Has anyone noticed how a crisis has been manufactured to get this shit to go ahead?

[originalpckelly]

We've got another one of these situations where, just like the bailouts, a situation has been manufactured. And if we don't do something there will be dire consequences. Another Great Depression.

So, what do we have to do? Give up "entitlements". How dare these people who paid into a system their whole working lives actually get something back from it?

And why, in part, are we in this situation?

They have been robbing Social Security blind for years. I don't know too much about Medicare, but SS has been robbed blind every year it had a surplus. All so the rich can have tax cuts, and I'm not just talking about the Bush Tax Cuts, but about the others that dramatically lowered the rates back in the '80s. Even during the Clinton administration, the only reason they had a surplus, is that they were basically taking out a loan from the Social Security trust funds.

Remember last year, how the situation with the tax cuts was also manufactured? The Republicans had all the years before 2007, when the Democrats took over the House, to pass a permanent extension to the tax cuts. There was no reason it could not be done then.

They could have done it after 2007, if they wanted a bi-partisan solution.

They could have done it later in 2009 and earlier in 2010, when the unemployment benefits weren't also coming up for renewal. But oh fucking no, they did it all at the same time.

"But, but, but don't you want unemployment benefits?"
"What do those have to do with tax cuts?"
"It's just what has to be done to get the unemployment through."
"Yeah, it's only because that's how it was all set up."

It's just a long trend of manufacturing emergencies to get shitty legislation through before anyone can find out what the fuck is actually in it. A way to short circuit dialog, so that the people cannot have enough time to muster a response to this nonsense.

I'm tired of the apocalyptic nonsense being played here. With Iraq it was a "mushroom cloud." And here and before it's the economic equivalent of a mushroom cloud.

Only this time instead of a foreign dictator, it's our own President/Congress who has promised to nuke us just so he/they can make a deal.
Why don't they fucking grow up and get shit done without putting our lives on the line like this?
Maybe they should pledge to get it done or resign at the end of the year because if they can't it shows how incapable they are of governing?
Oh they won't do that shit, but they sure as hell are willing to play games with our lives and minds, right?

I'm sure you could get anyone to do anything if you threaten to nuke the economy.

Meanwhile, we don't hear very much about the fact that corporations will still be in charge at the end of the deal. Or that it will not help people who work in dead end jobs for shittier pay each year and no benefits. In fact it will hurt them, because they can't save for retirement and make ends meet AND they'll have to work at those shitty jobs even longer!

Or that it will only minimally impact the distribution of wealth: 74% of the wealth will still be only held by 10%. Marginal income tax hikes of a couple percentage points won't impact that very much. And it will mean that 10% of the people will still be taking home something very close to half of the income each year in this nation. That too won't be helped by minor income tax hikes.

Oh you'll never hear that shit.

But a couple years later retirement or trimming benefits will impact those people who have to "work for a barely surviving," rather than those who "own for a killing."

This system of unfree enterprise will still go on. The rigged market will go on. The national company town will go on. The system where wages are lowered and then one has to make up for it by using credit just to stay afloat will go on. The system that keeps people under the thumb, the boot, the foot of the 24,000 lb elephant will continue.

"Saint Peter, don't you call me...
Cause I can't go, I owe my soul to the company store..."

"I took out a soul equity line of credit today!"
"Really? A SELOC?"
"Yeah, needed some new clothes for work, shoes, and the house needed some gutters."
"What happens if you can't pay them back?"
"Oh, there was this little part where they said they could send me to hell to burn for eternity..."
"Wow!"
"But I'm really enjoying these new shoes. All thanks to the First Bank of SatanMorganChase."
"Oh yeah, that's who had to take over J.P. Morgan Chase last year when they were about to go under, right?"
"Yep."

This system of business dictatorships will go on, and politicians will still receive as much money, because a few percentage points tax hike won't do shit to stop that.

Oh, but you will never hear that.

You won't be told that you'd have ample money to pay for retirees and yourself, if only the rich would stop taking all of it.

You simply cannot have an economy where the rich aren't taking a high percentage of your income with a wealth distribution more fucked up than Egypt.
No one will say that shit who is on the national level. You won't hear the President hold a press conference and say that shit.

No, you hear the manufactured crisis yet again. That we must do this now, suspend normal process, and go forth into the inky darkness ahead.

That's all you'll hear and see.

Too bad, this was a nice place. We used to give somewhat of a shit about the people in our society who needed us, it's just too bad that we've brainwashed into thinking that we did not need ourselves to stand up for ourselves. Last time I checked, there was no immortality serum discovered. What, don't you think you're going to get old?

And if you think that this will not ultimately lead to the end of these programs, think again. Remember what Bush tried. That's the real goal here. It will happen eventually if the Democrats give up any ground here. Because some other crisis will come up later on, and they'll be over with. Disaster politics, the politics of the emergency will take over, and it will be the nail in the coffin of Social Security and Medicare.

These people are all for "you're on your own" until it's their ass in the hot seat. Oh then, it's "too big to fail." No, it was more like, "too rich to fail."

Aren't we too big to fail? AFTER ALL, WE'RE ONLY 90% OF THE FUCKING COUNTRY!

Nope, YOYO. And when we want something done, we're going to scare the shit out of you.

Well, maybe it's time to scare the shit out of the wealthy who don't give a fuck. Violence is useless, but when we see this all for what it is, a stay rich quick scheme, then we can really move forward. That will really scare them. When everyone knows.

The truth shall set us free yet again.

[XanaDUer]

1. Yes, The Shock Doctrine

nt.

[originalpckelly]

2. Fear and hatred, it's all that can blind us to 24,000 lb elephant with it's foot on us.

[StarsInHerHair]

20. using the past I can tell you now that if Obama goes along then we likely WILL

have a second Great Depression! no cuts! no trimming! raise the cap!

[G_j]

8. yep

that is the correct term for it..

[justdumbluck]

31. Indeed, that seems to be the playbook.

I can admit to not a little shock myself, when I hear the
current rhetoric.  Really?  That's the world you want to live
in?  And I would guess Snowcrash would be the model for the
new reality when the Shock Doctrine has done it's work...where
is there to left to flee to?  
BTW, what is nt, or n/t?  I be new in these parts.

[marions ghost]

36. Flee if you can

otherwise endure it with the rest of us.

n/t -no text

[justdumbluck]

48. ah, no text. I get it. thanks

manufactured crisis, indeed. But just in case, any concrete steps to take in case the republicans do take us over the debt ceiling cliff?

[marions ghost]

64. 1. tighten your bungi cord & harnesses

2. dust off your funeral duds
3. wave your Chinese-made American flag and smile a big goofy smile
4. go shopping for batteries at WalMart
5. pray

-----------seriously, you might want to put that question out as a general topic--there may be a few optimists lurking out there that you'd get a straight answer from----

[Enthusiast]

68. Duct tape, you forgot duct tape.

:popcorn:

[marions ghost]

72. Riiight

Duct tape---thanx for the reminder

http://www.instructables.com/id/Duct-Tape-Figures/

Maybe we should send some duct tape to the White House? Or did they already do that with Bushco?

[Jackpine Radical]

83. nt is No Text, meaning there is no text beyond what is in the subject line.

This saves you the bother of clicking to read a nonexistent message.

[BlueJac]

41. Exactly..........

right to a tee!

[alfredo]

54. Disaster Capitalism. Enriching yourself on the misery of others.

[rhett o rick]

73. Bingo. nm

[Auggie]

88. I never thought it would come during Obama's administration... NEVER!

[polichick]

3. As Rahm said, "Never let a good crisis go to waste." I guess pols figure...

...they can get away with anything if they manufacture a crisis. Hold on for the latest heist!

[originalpckelly]

4. After all, you need something to scare the shit out of someone for a proper stick up.

Robbers use knives and guns, these politicians use the economic nuclear option.

[polichick]

7. Time for people to stop being scared, which is hard to do when you're struggling.

[SteveM]

56. Look at the bright side: Being scared takes energy, too...

during the Great Depression, when tens of millions were struggling, it was even harder. But that didn't stop folks from organizing a true political party around FDR.

The trouble started well before the economic downturn when the Democratic Party essentially abandoned "traditionally liberal" issues after Jimmy Carter, and instead pursued some mumbo-jumbo about a "third way," "no labels," and "consensus-building between the left and right." Trouble is, there is not much left of the Left in the land of False Dichotomies. In one day, I heard two GOP Senators say they would not cut back on Medicare, even as Obama suggested raising the benefits age from 65 to 67. And today, Obama feverishly grabbed at the one issue these latter-day "Democrats" are addicted to: Gun Control. Why? Why, why why?

[truedelphi]

71. "Some rob you with a six shooter, and some with

A fountain pen." Woody Guthrie

[polichick]

89. Great quote!

[robinlynne]

5. YOu are so right. the sad thing is that now it is "our team' doing it.

[AndyTiedye]

33. The Repigs are Doing It, But Their Noise Machine is Shifting the Blame to Obama

so effectively that even here on DU most people are blaming Obama.

[freshwest]

40. +1. This stuff was on the way long before Obama got into politics. Bigger than one man.

[Nihil]

92. How quaint ...

... you think that the game is being run by more than one "team"?

:evilgrin:

[originalpckelly]

6. Just to add: Emergencies are about the only thing manufactured in America anymore.

[formercia]

12. +1000

Good Line.

[jimmyflint]

19. Sad how true that is. n/t

[CrossChris]

29. Brilliant! Too bad it's true.

They know they can bank on their own ability to create disasters, so they profit from what they control.

[BlueJac]

42. LIES are manufactured the most.

[JDPriestly]

45. originalpckelly -- great post

[TexDevilDog]

9. Of course government uses fear and intimidation

thats all they have. How is Minnesota doing after being shut down for 11 day? Did the state fall in to a sink hole yet?

[originalpckelly]

11. Yep.

That and lies of all other kinds. Just anything to get us to turn over our powers.

[StarsInHerHair]

22. after just over 1 week? what rhymes with pol?

[global1]

10. Kind Of An Interesting Concept - The Middle Class & Poor - To Big To Fail......nt

[anamandujano]

60. Interesting enough to launch a movement. And there's a guy

who can get cameras on him at the drop of a hat and blow the pukes out of the water with it.

If he wants to let the pukes run the show and let the powers that be lead us further into this swamp then yes, those that elected him based on the false promises can blame him.

[woo me with science]

13. That is exactly what is happening. And you are right to point out the added benefit of

having everything occur behind closed doors until the day of crisis, at which time the emergency legislation must be passed.

We are completely blind to and have no say whatsoever in what these thieves come up with for us.

[StarsInHerHair]

23. I wonder if this can be blocked at the STATE LEVEL?

[CrispyQ]

14. Well said, especially the following:

It's just a long trend of manufacturing emergencies to get shitty legislation through before anyone can find out what the fuck is actually in it. A way to short circuit dialog, so that the people cannot have enough time to muster a response to this nonsense.

I'm tired of the apocalyptic nonsense being played here. With Iraq it was a "mushroom cloud." And here and before it's the economic equivalent of a mushroom cloud.

bvar22 made a point I hadn't thought of - how convenient the financial implosion of 2008 happened as the watch was changing. Both parties get to blame the other. The system is so damned corrupt & compromised, I don't believe there is a way to fix the system, within the system.

k&r

[woo me with science]

15. I think this is the most important thread on DU right now.

K&R


This will continue to happen, because it works so well.

[KoKo]

16. You mean another "HAIR ON FIRE CRISIS? Where Geithner replaced Paulson on MSM this Weekend?

no.........no........you must be mistaken. There's no crisis...there's nothing there except SS/Medicare and Medicaid" that MUST BE on the CHOPPING BLOCK to vote for cutting.

OUR PRESIDENT is the MASTER OF UNIVERSE...what he SAYS GOES.

We should NOT ever question him or his "Economic Advisors" who are GRAND PUBAH's of the WORLD...

What really sucked about the "Big O's Speech" was about how RICH HE WAS...and how RICH PEOPLE LIKE HIM really NEED TO PAY MORE TAXES.

Can this President's EGO GET MORE INFLATED? It's becoming BIZARRE when he identifies more with HOW RICH WILL SUFFER...that the PRESIDENT FOR THE PEOPLE ...that we THOUGHT we ELECTED.

Now our PRESIDENTS SAYS: "I'm Rich. and Willing to Sacrifice...WHAT ABOUT YOU!"

It's really DISGUSTING....:-( and very sad for the rest of us out here.

[truedelphi]

91. The thing is, his economic advisers are the GRAND POUBAHS of

The Universe.

Sleeze like Geithner and the rest of them are exactly who the Uber Rich want to have advising the President.

I watched the video the "Shock Doctrine" just about a week ago. And it is really terrifying, how the moment that the Powers that Be in a nation decide on having the Milton Friedman "Free Market Capitalism" put in place, the only way that it can be done is to grind the poor into dog meat, and have the nation become a military junta.

That is what happened in Chile and Argentina. Labor, progressives and the intelligensia are all "disappeared." Didn't quite happen that way in the USSR, but the suffering that has gone on in Russia once the Soviet Union collapsed has been beyond belief.

And now it is to happen like that here too. While "our" smiling President leads us past the point of no return.

[spanone]

17. when the republicons and the media decide there's a crisis. by gawd there's a crisis.

the debt ceiling....i've never fucking heard of it before...

[originalpckelly]

18. Yeah, basically no one else has either.

:P

[Warren DeMontague]

21. Amazing how the "drastic action required" never includes slashing defense, or ending the drug war

or legalizing and TAXING marijuana, which could bring in massive amounts of revenue.

No, no, 'everything's on the table'- except stuff like that.

[Ruby the Liberal]

24. Righteous rant, brah. k&r!

:applause:

[woo me with science]

25. Kick nt

[Nothing Without Hope]

26. Ya think!?!? I agree with you all the way. n/t

[tomp]

27. "aren't WE too big to fail?" great line!!!! nt

[disillusioned73]

28. K&R.. with pleasure..

the American people should be the only entity that is "too big to fail".. IMHO

[woo me with science]

30. K&R I think you just wrote THE MOST IMPORTANT POST ON DU right now.

You have identified the new modus operandi of manufacturing crises so that legislation must be created urgently and passed before Americans have a chance to weigh in at all: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x1467681

The Bush tax cuts were extended because of a false, urgent tethering to the unemployment benefits issue. Now our "representatives" are behind closed doors, where we cannot see what they are doing or have any input whatsoever, until August 2, when they will again emerge with a done deal that that must be passed immediately to avoid catastrophe.

This is becoming a pattern and a way to completely bypass the American people in creating and pushing through legislation that the rich and powerful would prefer. The sooner we recognize and label this "shock doctrine" strategy for what it is, the better.

We're constantly being told what is best for us, despite what polls show Americans overwhelmingly want. We need to be clear about what is happening, and we need to demand that it stop.

[JDPriestly]

46. +1

[chill_wind]

32. K & R.

A lot of us have been trying to say and document that argument here for a long time.

[Ichingcarpenter]

34. Righteous rant... I liked the picture you drew..n/t

[amborin]

35. kr

[jtown1123]

37. Yep. Manufactured Crisis to force us to forgo benefits.

[raouldukelives]

38. K&R

[MissDeeds]

39. K&R

[ooglymoogly]

43. Its called the "0" flym flam kabuki.

and its sung to the tune of "Ain't no way to hide your lye'n eyes" and the corporate fatcats are laughing all the way to their off shore accounts where the 4 trillion SS savings will now reside, far out of reach of the folks it belongs to.

[Scottybeamer70]

44. and now............Timothy G. ..........

wants it all done by NEXT WEEK!
Why does one man get to say when the crisis will start???

[JDPriestly]

47. Because he is a Pete Peterson protege and that proves to me taht

Obama is a Pete Peterson plant. We have been robbed. We were robbed on the day that Obama won the primary. He had no intention of raising the cap to repay the Social Security bonds. None whatsoever. He has always planned to screw America's seniors.


Obama and Geithner need to wise up. Bush lied and he ended on history's trash heap.

Obama is lying, and he will end up there too if he doesn't start telling the truth.

We here on DU are usually the first to see what is happening. We aren't really very ideological. We could care less in fact about such things. We just see reality and that is what Obama is not looking at right now. He may not realize it, but he is sucker in the White House -- paid to carry out Pete Peterson's dreams. Americans will wake up to what is going on. And then Obama will end up like Bush except without the Bush family to support him emotionally.

Betrayal has its price.

[Jackpine Radical]

84. Interesting--we aren't very ideological. I think that's right.

I don't know if there is an objective view of reality, but I think we are mostly somewhat less prone to run incoming information through a set of filters to make sure uncomfortable parts don't get through.

I started thinking--if I'm not particularly ideological, and I'm clearly opinionated about how things should be, then what is driving my opinions? The answer I came up with is simple: Values.

I believe in the dignity of human life. I believe that all should be free to develop and explore their potentials. I believe that love and life are to be celebrated. I believe that we have a responsibility to others. In each case, I'm using the word "believe" in a very special way. I'm not talking about any sort of testable empirical knowledge (I believe water is composed of two hydrogen ions & one oxygen) or prediction (I believe the sun will rise tomorrow) or even untestable assertions about the nature of things (I believe in God). I'm talking about values. I value others, I value the way I feel when I make someone happy.

Ideologies arise from values but they are not the same thing. They have more to do with how one expresses values. The values relate to the end goals, the ideological positions are the means.

[JDPriestly]

90. Agreed and well said, Jackpine Radical.

Values are rather flexible. Ideologies are rigid.

The Ayn Rand ideology is particularly rigid.

The Chicago School of Economics' theories are very rigid.

Fundamentalist religions, whether Muslim, Christian, Jewish, whatever tend to be quite rigid. I would call them ideologies.

Social democracy with the emphasis on democracy is very flexible. Those words describe a very broad range of ways to organize society. The term "open society" also is a flexible concept in my opinion.

Our Constitution establishes a framework for a very flexible society based on values.

Thanks for stating this so well.

[caseymoz]

49. Borrowing from the Social Security TF isn't 'robbery'

If it is, it means the money you have in a bank, credit union or S&L has already been robbed, because lending it out is exactly what those institutions do. Conservatives only call the SSTF "robbery" because that's a) what Ayn Rand would call it; and b) they think that the government is destined to default because, by their dogma, the government always fails. It's a self-fulfilling prophecy.

The trust fund is only robbed by lending if the government has no intention of paying the funds back. But so far,it has been. A robber doesn't do that. Also, I think those borrowed funds do pay back interest, right? Where do you think much of the COLA might come from? The repayments, BTW, are considered in the accounting of our debts. Those are not being hidden by some fancy accounting. So, stop being confused by Conservative bullshit. There's no robbery or fraud to this.

Conservatives wouldn't call ordinary banking "robbery," so there's no merit to this argument even from their side. Those who make it are either lying, ignorant or deceived. So, don't buy into it yourself. Never use their bullshit propaganda in a Progressive argument. It just confuses the actual deception going on here even more.

[reformist2]

53. That's true... but we need to make sure it never becomes true!

[ooglymoogly]

79. It is robbery if there is no intent to pay it back.

And if those SS savings to take care of the elderly now lie in offshore banking accounts. In an honest justice system this would be called mass fraud, but now delusionarilly called "taxcuts for billionaires" and "bank mismanagement" and "the fog of war", that under RICO laws within an honest justice system and with an honest A.J. and in would courts, would put at least 400 people in jail and repatriate tens of trillions of dollars to the taxpayers treasury from which it has been brazenly stolen. That alone would put the world back together and on the road to the Utopia FDR set the foundations for. We all know what dictatorships and oligarch's look like....time for the U.S. to take a gander into the mirror and see what a paragon of all of them put together looks like and how ravenous and insatiable parasites of this magnitude can destroy the planet as we know it.

[caseymoz]

87. So, you know that they're in offshore banking accounts

And some elected official, appointee, government employee or anybody else has has stolen them for personal gain. If either are true, then the funds have been robbed. Those, of course, imply that there was no intention of paying the funds back, and I did say right out that without that intention, we were robbed. However, just the fact that the government borrowed against it or loaned it out doesn't mean "robbed."

So, we would totally agree that what you've cited is robbery. The problem is, you haven't given one bit, one molecule of evidence that either of those has happened, and meanwhile you've used your rant to conflate stealing the funds with banking them out for other uses, which was the subject of my post. Without further evidence, your claim looks like either a way you have of lying about it, or a way to enrage yourself over nothing. How you come up with "at least 400" and "tens of trillions of dollars" is beyond me.

Of course, if you cite good evidence for offshore banking accounts made up of stolen Social Security funds and such, I'll retract. Do you have any sources, any research for any of your claims?

I'm not saying that an active and honest justice system wouldn't find a lot of corruption, maybe even tens of trillions of dollars worth and 400 perps. I'm only saying that without some good investigation it can't be determined if any part of that corruption has to do with the SSTF.

Yes, and I know what dictatorships look like as well. There are enough signs of that without a glance at Social Security.

[reformist2]

50. The way I figure it, the rich owe Social Security $3 trillion in higher taxes

That's the amount of money the government borrowed from the Social Security surplus over the years, money that should have been collected from income taxes!

[KittyWampus]

51. Another foolish post that ignores what is actually happening. What's sad are so many DU'ers buy into

such inane rambling non-sense because it sounds like something that fits into their prejudice.

[rhett o rick]

74. Another foolish response that ignores what is actually happening.

You continue to bad mouth DU'ers. I am surprised you are still here.

[ooglymoogly]

82. What is even more ignorant

is looking at black and white without realizing and certainly not seeing that white is the absence of all color and black is the presence of all color. Without realizing the proven Machiavellian worlds that can turn in the kaleidoscopic ramifications of that infinity. Not unlike Ayan Rand seeing only black and white while never realizing it is a flat tired handicap of sophists that can never escape the bounds of the silliest among us.

[russspeakeasy]

52. This is like watching professional wrestling...but I repeat myself.

:puke:

[kentuck]

55. Yep.

The giveaway was when they included Social Security in the negotiations. SS has nothing to do with the present deficits. There is enough in the fund at present to pay full benefits until 2037. By then, most baby boomers will be dead.

[SteveM]

57. There is no opposition. There is no Left left. nt

[Eyerish]

58. K&R

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

59. I haven't noticed.

[emsimon33]

61. The Democratic politicians have been so disappointing

It is getting too hard to tell them from Republicans.

[me b zola]

62. K&R

[louslobbs]

63. K&R Excellent Post, the truth is really sick and ugly but then again so are most politicians and

their corporate masters. "Aren't we too big to fail? AFTER ALL, WE'RE ONLY 90% OF THE FUCKING COUNTRY!" we should be, but the corporate media have a good portion of the 90% distracted, confused, afraid and stupid.
Lou

[Enthusiast]

65. Oh, they had some asshole on Washington Journal

this morning telling us how bad we must cut social security and medicare while we continue with low tax rates on the "job creators". They tailor every word on NPR and rest to say almost the same thing word for word. Often they even use the same slick talking propagandist from network to network. This is a media-wide phenomenon.

THIS is a fucking conspiracy. Not a conspiracy 'theory' but an easily recognizable conspiracy of the sort that allowed Bush to win 2000 and Bush to LIE us into the Iraq War.

[Rex]

66. Excellent post! Highly recommended!

Best post I've seen in weeks about the subject! :thumbsup:

[Enthusiast]

67. I firmly believe they already have the next crisis

already planned. I suspect it is all out war with Iran, or maybe Pakistan. The planers are carefully setting the stage for this crisis right now. And then you greedy baby boomers will have to sacrifice! "You ain't seen nothing yet."

[earcandle]

69. Agreed. Constitutional Law says we must levy taxes to pay the national debts and we are not allowed

to default because some sissies don't want to pay taxes.  That
is against the law.  Levy taxes, raise revenue, pay debts. 
What is difficult about that?  We people in business have to
raise revenue to pay our debt.  There are limits on our
borrowing.  The government needs to place limits on theirs and
raise revenues.  DO YOU JOB, or get impeached for treason and
crimes against the American people.  If one person dies as a
result of this stupid scam, the whole congress and WH should
be held accountable for their murder... this is pure genocide.
 Notice no one is accounting for what will happen to our
people, rich and poor, if we default.  The poor will die, and
the rich will lose money in interest expenses.

[jwirr]

70. Manufactured but a long time in the making - rayguns trickle down

economy straight out of the University of Chicago in the 50s. It would be interesting to know if anyone has done a study of just how much of the government has been privatized since then. For instance food stamps - from paper stamps to debit cards administered by the banksters. The only thing that is done by the government in that system is the applications. Health care by insurance company. Social Security by debit card. Military contractors. What all else has been taken over?

This is the goal of disaster capital and they have accomplished most of it when there was no crisis in sight. We just let them.

[rhett o rick]

75. This is the capitalism endgame. More crisis are ahead. The revolution is waiting. nm

[valerief]

76. True. It's all bullshit they serve up to us. nt

[TBF]

77. As a friend of mine said earlier today - "bi-partisan solution"

just means that the ruling class (all 3% of them or so) have come to agreement. And usually that agreement means the rest of us are going to be paying.

[markpkessinger]

80. Indeed -- it's a shit stew for the rest of us n/t

[Blue_Tires]

78. brilliant...

well said

[Major Hogwash]

81. Yeah, but now McConnell is making race cars out of his poop!

And then racing them on the floor of his office until he leaves big marks all over the floor!!!

Picture the Mad Hatter, and you'll soon see what I mean!!!

[roxiejules]

85. Are we willing to let them take us back to the Dark Ages?

"You have to realize that what they’re trying to do is to roll back the Enlightenment, roll back the moral philosophy and social values of classical political economy and its culmination in Progressive Era legislation, as well as the New Deal institutions. They’re not trying to make the economy more equal, and they’re not trying to share power. Their greed is (as Aristotle noted) infinite. So what you find to be a violation of traditional values is a re-assertion of pre-industrial, feudal values. The economy is being set back on the road to debt peonage. The Road to Serfdom is not government sponsorship of economic progress and rising living standards, it’s the dismantling of government, the dissolution of regulatory agencies, to create a new feudal-type elite."

- Michael Hudson, Distinguished Research Professor at the University of Missouri, Kansas City

[Divine Discontent]

86. no time to fully read now, but your first comment is SPOT ON. They are tying the debt ceiling

to Social Security to then, take from us. That's BS... Obama is risking being elected, and in turn, hurting us not only with this if it goes through, but also, if we get a rethug president. :(

[woo me with science]

93. Kick. nt