The consequences of a cave

[MadHound]

When the president blindsided Congress with his "compromise" concerning the tax cuts, it was all but a done deal that the rich would continue to get richer and rest of us would get poorer. The consequence of this "compromise" are dire, and are already being felt.

Moody's is already threatening to downgrade our credit rating. The yield on Treasuries has gone up. The status of the dollar as the reserve currency of the world is under attack as the oil exporting countries are already switching to a basketful of currencies to replace the petrodollar and countries like China and Russia have dropped the dollar as the medium of exchange in bilateral trade.

This all means that the cost of government, and eventually all, borrowing is going up. It also means that inflation will rise, and the price of oil will especially skyrocket.

But the real damage is going to be felt by all of us. With such a huge debt load, the 'Pugs and some Dems are already calling for austerity measures to cut spending. Of course these cuts aren't going to come out of the most bloated of the government sectors, the military. Instead, we are going to see cuts in domestic spending, in areas such as infrastructure, Social Security, Medicare, mortgage interest deduction, and other programs that have a positive effect for large numbers of people.

We are going to go back to the day when children begged on the street, our elderly are shoved in a corner under the stairs, and achieving even a modicum of comfort is going to be nearly impossible for more and more people. We are in the process of wiping out nearly a century of progressive gains, and once they are gone, they won't be coming back, at least not for a long, long time.

These are the consequences that we will be facing from this cowardly cave by the president. His promise to fight these tax cuts in 2012 is laughable on the face of it. If the man will not fight for his promise now, why should we believe he will fight in the future?

We are going to pay for this debacle though, not the president, not the members of Congress. Yes, they may or may not lose their seat of power, but they and their families will not suffer due to want and need. Obama and his family will never suffer from hunger or homelessness, though many who lose SS benefits or Medicare benefits will. The powerbrokers in DC are insulated from the consequences of their decisions while we bear the full burden of them.

This is what has been given to us with this "compromise" deal. The decline of our country, the decline of our people. It is time to hold all of these people accountable for their decisions. Make them feel the pain that we are going to feel. Then, perhaps, they will put an end to these "compromises." One can hope.

[xchrom]

1. recommend

[Denninmi]

2. Somewhere, Madame Defarge is knitting.

Why can't our "leaders" on either side of the aisle get it?

We do need a revolution, not of the sword, but of the ballot, and not in voting for this or that candidate -- I know I sure didn't get the change I worked for, and I don't have much hope of getting it now. We need a total revolution in campaign finance. What needs to go the guillotine is the relationship between wealth and campaign finance.

[FiveGoodMen]

3. It's looking like campaign finance reform will never be allowed.

Why would the privileged give up their stranglehold on America?

[Martin Eden]

4. My Reply to Senator Durbin

I contacted my Democratic Senator a week ago to urge him to oppose this disastrous compromise. He replied with the standard talking points that he was strongly opposed to parts of the bill but it also contained important benefits and economic stimulus.

This is my reply to Senator Durbin:


Senator Durbin,

I am the head of a middle class household in DuPage County. Together my wife and I earn $75k/year. We do NOT need tax “relief” nearly as much as the federal government needs deficit reduction. By extending tax cuts to the rich (along with everyone else) you made the deficit much worse and played directly into the long term Republican strategy of making unaffordable government programs to Americans in need. Additionally, the “payroll tax holiday” has been pushed before by the right as a way of further bankrupting Social Security.

Will the Deficit Commission now recommend raising the retirement age and cutting back on Medicare or other social programs? If so, this is the equivalent of taking money from the poor and giving it to the rich with the tax cuts you just extended to them.

This is not a compromise to benefit the American people. This is not bipartisanship. This is being a willing or an unwitting accomplice to the long term strategic plan to “starve the beast” that Grover Norquist articulated years ago.

I am 53 years old and a lifelong Democrat. It has finally come to the point where I feel my Party has left me. Now, I am looking for a way to leave it without further empowering the likes of John Boehner.

Dead serious and bitterly disappointed,
(my name)

[Laelth]

6. Excellent letter. I share the sentiments you expressed. n/t

-Laelth

[Laelth]

5. k&r for the sad truth. n/t

-Laelth

[nadinbrzezinski]

7. We have now officially entered the dysfunctional stage

of government....

voting no longer works.

And of course this is happening and it will not end well.

In the worst days I wonder if we will make it to 2012, not that it maters who I vote for. It really does not, one iota.

[snagglepuss]

8. k & r nt

[Desertrose]

9. K & R

Good but sad points, Madhound.