The inmates are running the asylum
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In November of 2008, there was a mandate for change. The Republicans were resoundingly voted out of power, largely because the economy was in the tank and the American public had no confidence that the GOP could get us out. In fact, it’s pretty clear that the Republicans - led by George Bush - got us into this mess. Someone, then, should remind the Democrats that they are allowing the inmates to run the asylum. There is not one good reason for the Republicans (and their cowardly centrist tag-alongs) to be leading the charge and calling the shots on the economy. They’ve had their chance and failed miserably. There’s also no good reason for the GOP to gut this stimulus bill. It’s all about power politics and nothing more. If they can see to it that Obama’s economic policies fail, they can use the 2010 midterm election as a referendum on Obama’s performance.
Hey, no offense to President Obama, but if the American people thought for 
one single minute that John McCain and his band of Republican know-nothings had the answer, McCain would be residing at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and the Republicans would be in the majority. Instead, McCain’s back in the Senate playing politics with wide-mouth Lindsey Graham while the American people continue to suffer. Make no bones about it. The Democrats are allowing this to continue. Let’s cut to the chase. The Republicans have become so desperate to remain relevant that they are now looking to ‘intellectuals’ like factually-challenged Rush Limbaugh and rabid pundit Michelle Malkin for direction. Imagine having these two as the repository of all knowledge for your political party? Talk about scraping the bottom of the barrel.
Not that John McCain has much more to offer. He has once again shown that the Republicans have absolutely no clue what they are doing. After listening to his whining, grating voice over the past couple of days, it’s no surprise that our economy is in the gutter and it’s no surprise that he lost the election. So, what we have here is a teaching opportunity: All you members of the GOP, listen up! A “spending bill” and a “stimulus package” are one and the same thing. The premise is that in order to stimulate the economy, you have to spend money. Got that? Now, what the Republicans want is not a stimulus bill. What they want is more tax cuts for the rich. They continue to insist that tax cuts are the fastest way to stimulate the economy in spite of the fact there is not one ounce of statistical proof that this is true. What is true is that every single time they’ve cut taxes, they have failed to stimulate the economy. Why? Because the tax cuts are going to those who already have everything they need. The Bush tax cuts to the top 1% earners that John McCain now wants to make permanent have done absolutely nothing. Since these tax cuts have taken effect, the economy has continued to deteriorate. Can you identify any visible stimulus to the economy as a result of these taxes? Good. Because nobody else can either. So, the question is, how many more pieces of useless legislation does this government want to offer up to a frustrated (and angry) American public?
In a twisted effort to entice the Republicans to get on board and make this a bi-partisan bill, the Democrats have sold out the American people. What started out as a fairly strong (although not perfect) stimulus bill now includes 42% in tax cuts (non-stimulus activity). That’s a sell out. And, guess what? The Republicans aren’t satisfied with that either. They want to gut the bill even more. One of the absurd areas they want to cut back on is food stamps. Let’s just look at that for a moment. If there’s one thing that will stimulate spending, it’s food. Why? Because people need it and the poor and middle class need more than what they are now able to provide for their families. Giving them food stamps is a guaranteed stimulus. In fact, for every $1.00 spent on food, $1.73 is put back into the economy. Sure, let’s cut it.That would make perfect sense to a group who can’t tell the difference between what a tax cut package does and what an actual stimulus package does.
Senators like Lindsey Graham and John McCain, and factually-challenged pundits like Bill O’Reilly and Rush Limbaugh, continue to prove that their time has come and gone. Theyshould be put out to pasture. They are political dinosaurs who care nothing about the plight of the American people. What they care about is making sure the Democrats fail so that the Republicans can return to power in four years. Don’t kid yourself. This stalling isn’t about being able to afford this stimulus bill. This isn’t about good economics vs. bad economics, or about responsible vs. irresponsible spending. It’s about politics. Can we afford the Iraq war at a $12 billion a month? I don’t see any Republicans standing up and suggesting that we slow down funding for the war to debate whether or not we can really afford the $3 trillion tab we’re going to end up with. And please, let’s not use that old Republican argument that war stimulates the economy. Take a good look around. We’ve been in the quagmire known as Iraq since 2003, and the economy has done nothing but spiral downward. The only people benefiting from the Iraq war are Haliburton, KBR and Blackwater.
Could we afford the $700 billion bailout we asked the taxpayers to foot to save the corrupt and greedy financial industry? That didn’t stop George Bush and Hank Paulson from coming to Capitol Hill with their hands out, and it didn’t stop the Republican led 110th Congress from giving them what they wanted with no strings attached, no change in behavior asked for and no checks and balances required. Yet the Republicans have a problem when it comes to bailing out the American people. That’s rich, isn’t it? Suddenly, their watchword is fiscal responsibility. They are a disgrace. Lindsey Graham’s assertion that the current stimulus bill will not pass public scrutiny is pure bunk. The Republicans, my friends, have already failed in the arena of public scrutiny. They are no longer in charge, and they are no longer in charge because of the economy, stupid. I’m a political junkie and I can’t remember the last time Lindsey Graham had anything positive to offer the American people. He simply takes up valuable oxygen in a room.
According to Pulitzer Prize Winner Paul Krugman, Washington “has lost any sense of what’s at stake - of the reality that we may well be falling into an economic abyss, and that if we do, it will be very hard to get out again.” So, yes, by all means, let’s just give the Republicans what they want and slow this process down. Let’s take a breath. After all, the privileged lawmakers don’t have to worry about choosing between paying the electric bill and buying food for their children. They want to “get this right,” and their idea of getting it right is ‘tax cuts.’ In the meantime, Nissan announced yesterday that it will lay off 20,000 workers. General Motors announced today that it is cutting 10,000 salaried workers. The economy dumped more than half a million jobs in January. The number was about the same in December. And what I really want the Republicans to do is get up on that Senate floor today and explain in detail to the American people how their tax cuts are going to create jobs. I bet the explanation will be fascinating.
Creating jobs and stimulating the economy is not rocket science but - in spite of this - it does appear to be out of the grasp of most of the GOP. So, here are some basic economic facts for dummies: There is supply, but not demand, so the idea is to get people to spend money. Therefore, you put the money into the hands of the people who need the goods the most. And those people are the poor and middle class. The only reason they haven’t been spending on necessary goods is that they don’t have enough money. Then comes part two. The economy gets stimulated and jobs are created by the government spending money. Some of this investment is in public works projects. I don’t think anybody can argue that our country’s infrastructure is in serious need of work. Our roads and bridges are in dismal shape from years of inattention and lack of funding due to the vast amounts of money diverted to George Bush’s war in Iraq, by the billions of dollars in tax cuts to the rich that took stimulus money out of circulation, and by the bloated Pentagon budget.
The bill can barely be called a ’stimulus’ bill now with nearly 42% of the plan going to tax cuts. In spite of what crazy John McCain says, nobody with any amount of real economic knowledge will back him on the assertion that tax cuts are the best and fastest way to stimulate the economy. And the Republicans are intent on gutting this bill even further. It’s time for the Democrats put their collective foot down, find a way to grow a spine and stand up to these fools masquerading as public servants. Expose them for what they are: Obstructionists who are willing to sabotage effective policy and sell out the American people for political gain. They’ve overstayed their welcome, and it’s time to vote the rest of them out of office in 2010. However, let me remind the 111th Congress - a Democratic majority - that they were voted into power to make change, not to “make nice.” And yes, it was a mandate to make those changes with or without the Republicans in tow. If they don’t want to be part of the solution, cut them out of the process because time is running out.
Postscript: To the conservatives who want to tell me I don’t know what I’m talking about, tread lightly. I sit right where the majority of the American people are sitting and I am more than qualified to write this article. I am the caretaker for my family of three disabled people, including two children. I know what it is to choose between paying an electric bill and buying groceries. I am an hourly employee who - two weeks before Christmas - suffered a fifty-two-hour-a-month cut without any prior warning so that my company could appease the shareholders. In the blink of an eye, I lost $600 a month in pay. I have now been forced to apply for Food Stamps and public assistance. I am the American people. It is all of you - the centrists (read: cowards) and the conservatives (read: out of touch) - who have no real clue about what’s going on in America. You have insulted us and pissed us off.
Comment by ihentschel on 11 February 2009:
Well said. I thought we were getting all new tires. Instead we got some re-treads. As the discussion has gone on this week, about the reovery bill (or whatever it is)I am awestruck by the Republican intransigence. Baffling.
Comment by robert on 11 February 2009:
I just saw two-thirds of Americans think they can do better than Congrsss and Obama’s job approval is falling despite not accomplishing anything except appoining abunch of tax cheats, a corrupt governor and now two bank thieves. Keep the change. How does that gell with your partisan biases.
Comment by Deb Della Piana on 11 February 2009:
Hey Robert, the guy has been in office since January 20. In all fairness, my friend, eight years of Republican lying, cheating and corruption has gotten us into this mess. George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Condoleeza Rice and all the rest belong at The Hague where they can be punished for violating our laws, international laws and the Geneva Conventions.
God only knows why ANYONE would want to be president after Bush. Obama’s approval rating can do nothing but fall if things aren’t corrected immediately. That’s how desperate a mess Bush left this country is.
And don’t talk to me about partisanship. The article was about the stimulus bill; not appointments. The Republicans are up to their old tricks — tax cuts. Tax cuts do absolutely nothing to improve the economy. They help the rich. My dad used to call the GOP “the party of the rich.” And he’s been dead for 43 years. The Republicans are doing everything they can do to see that this administration fails because they want to be back in power.
My family and I could be in Canada within 4 years if that happens.
Comment by robert on 12 February 2009:
I could agree with you but that would make us both wrong.
Comment by Deb Della Piana on 12 February 2009:
That’s okay, Robert. I have no problem with the perception that I’m wrong, particularly from someone on the right. From my perspective, I’m right on.
Comment by Proletarian on 14 February 2009:
Deb, what you are talking about is nothing more than socialism. Let me give you a realistic example of which I speak. I’m assuming you are not a small business owner and you work for the “man”. I own a small trucking company and I am having a hard time making ends meet. Business is down 40% from same time last year and projections are flat. I’ve lost two trucks and have a small business loan with Bank of America which I have tried repeatedly for the last two months to restructure, to no success. One of my employees has refinanced his home because he got caught in the sub-prime debacle and couldn’t make the mortage, however, since I cannot restructure the loan I now have to lay off another employee. Guess who that is. That’s right, the man who just refinanced his house. Now, not only do I suffer but so does he and so does the bank because he cannot pay on the refinance. He has no job. Deb, could you explain to me how Obama or the stimulus package is working with this?
Comment by Deb Della Piana on 14 February 2009:
The stimulus package hasn’t worked because it hasn’t even taken effect. You know, I’m sure you think everyone is where you are in life, but we’re not. We all look at things differently. From my perspective, I’m sick and tired of my taxpaying dollars bailing out these bums. They are supposed to be getting money so that they can make legitimate loans. They are doing everything but that, including giving bonuses to the idiots who started this problem to begin with. Why are you blaming Obama when your boys structured the bail out? You have nobody to thank but this but Bush and Paulson. Talk to them.
To begin with, the sub-prime mortgage issue is where it is due to lack of regulation. That’s my perspective. As for fact-checking, you are doing nothing more but telling me personal stories. You are not presenting ‘facts’ of how the sub-prime got this way. You and Robert, instead of telling me to “check my facts,” should first figure out what facts are.
As for your friend having no job? How do you propose the Republican version of the bail-out will create jobs? Tax cuts to the rich again? Been there. Done that. It doesn’t work. Period. We’ve been down that road. Or maybe we should invoke the old Ronnie ‘trickle down theory,’ another sham.
Know what? I don’t know how everything will spin out of this. We’ll be finding that out together. All I know is if the Republicans had the right idea, we wouldn’t be here today. McCain had no real plan to present to the American people, other than making the Bush tax cuts permanent. Why make permanent that which doesn’t work. It doesn’t work. That’s exactly why McCain isn’t in the White House today.
We need change, and change that is bold and radical. Enough of the same old, same old.
Comment by ihentschel on 14 February 2009:
Awhile back, I was feeling pretty proud of myself for coining (I thought) a new word: “Spectacularity”. A day or two later I found it in a dictionary. Rats. So much for instant gratification. But that is what I was getting at: America is a country of people motivated by instant gratification. The more spectacular something is, the quicker we pay attention. Once the spectacular aspect of something wears off (Brittany buys underwear), we lose interest and get bored. We want everything NOW, and more of it, YESTERDAY. The big problem right now, is that we are also mad as hell. Not only can we suddenly not get and have everything NOW, we can’t seem to be able to count on having it later, either. Nope, the stimulus hasn’t gone to work yet, but already people are looking for results or thinking that tomorrow morning everything will be just peachy, when we get out of bed.
All the early votes, evaluations and predictions (including one by Obama himself(”The stimulus is just the beginning”)say that we have barely got the ball rolling. I’m not convinced we are that far along.
The last adminstration spent eight years driving this country as far down into the depths of despair and toward the edges of economic collapse as was remotely possible, then pulled up stakes and left, leaving a Katrina-like catastrophe behind (and some real Katrina, too).
I was really aggravated when Joe Biden told us two weeks ago that we needed to “work harder”. Doh. Most of all, we need to stay alert, critical and involved. Comlaining without constructive input andinnovation will only roll the ball backwards. Anyone who is looking for quick fixes or instant solutions and overnight improvements in their bank accounts is both naive and silly.
The country does not have a head cold: WE HAVE PNUEMONIA. Do you have any idea how long it takes, how much it costs and how many expensive drugs you need to recover from that?
Robert,keep your pants on, your hand on your wallet, your head screwed on straight and your patience in check. You can get spectacularity, like a flat screen TV, at Wal-Mart but it won’t still sparkle, tomorrrow.
Comment by Proletarian on 14 February 2009:
Deb, if you want facts look up what Clinton did with the Community Reinvestment Act in 1992, 94 amd 95. Our government, under the Clinton administration, forced banks and mortagage lenders to lower lending standards that they had previously guarded against. All to tout 60% home ownership in America. Even for those who couldn’t afford to pay for it. The Community Reinvestment Act was a Carter design but Clinton pumped it up along with several others. In November of 2000 Fannie Mae announced HUD was requiring them to dedicate 50% of their business to low income families. Also in 2000 they purchased two billion dollars of “My Community Morgtage” loans. A low income housing organization.
Obama worked as an advisor to Acorn which got legislature passed forcing banks to lower lending standards for low income earners in the Chicagoland area and Detroit. Look it up. The biggest recipients of Fannie Mae funds were Chris Dodd, Barack Obama and John Kerry. But it was the Clinton administration that got the ball started, requiring lenders to finance homes in high risk markets or face very large fines. For this reason our lending institutions relaxed their standards.
Here’s one you can also look up to prove my point. Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, or commonly know as the “Financial Services Modernazation Act”. Gramm and the Clinton administration wanted to prevent banks from expanding into insurance or securities unless they complied with the Community Reinvestment Act. When Clinton signed the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act into law he said, “it establishes the principles that, as we expand the powers of banks, we will expand the reach of the Community Reinvestment Act”.
Clinton asked regulators to reform the Act in 1993 and according to Robert Rubin, the Assistant to the President for Economic Policy, “this was in line with President Clinton’s stratagy to deal with the inner city and distressed rural communities.”
In a nutshell Deb, we have the ten dollar an hour morons who took the money, the lending institutions that found a presumed gold mine and lent it, but more significantly, our beloved Clinton administration who beseeched or coerced banks and lending institutions into making unethical and unorthodox loans.
I don’t think you really know what our government requires and coerces the banks into doing. You need more data.
Comment by robert on 14 February 2009:
The “Homestead Act” of the 1990s created teh diststaer we face today.
Liberals deny the facts but fact are facts.
Comment by slowsmile on 15 February 2009:
I agree with Deb - but I’m arguing from a different side. I’m not going to argue politics, because politics isn’t economics. And the solution to this financial problem has to be an economic one, not a political one. So I’m watching ‘market confidence’ like a hawk - and this is telling me that the markets are most definitely not recovering, therefore these spend, spend, spend policies of Obama(which bear a remarkable resemblance to Bush’s past soft economic policies) are a big mistake. Supply-side economics, protectionism and tax-cuts will never work as lone policies to solve any economic problem.
Harsher, realistic policies are necessary. I pray for Volcker’s influence soon.