-
Eugenic Abortion 2.0
May 23, 2013 | 68 comments
-
Obama’s Assault on the First Amendment
May 22, 2013 | 154 comments
-
Obama’s Far Left Hand
May 15, 2013 | 133 comments
-
The Left’s Captive Mind
May 8, 2013 | 85 comments
-
A Sportscaster Comes Out As Christian
May 1, 2013 | 291 comments
A Further Perspective
Claptrap About Compromise
It is the establishment’s euphemism for collusion in corruption.
The Bolsheviks, according to historians, robbed banks before they rose to power in Russia. That foreshadowed their economic policies. The Marxism they implemented once in power was just an extension of their armed robbery.
Today’s redistributionists in America don’t have bank robbery in their pasts but they do accept organized theft as the norm of politics. They see all wealth belonging to the state automatically, which is why they count all tax cuts as “government spending” and why they feel entitled to hike up taxes whenever a self-inflicted “crisis” appears.
Taxpayers didn’t cause the “fiscal cliff” emergency; derelict pols did. But the taxpayers, not the pols, will pay for it. To pay off their debts, pols will first rob the rich and then move on to the middle class, where much greater potential tax revenue resides.
The difference between bank robbery and politics is one of degree, not kind. But if you control the media, education, and culture, as the redistributionists in America largely do, politics as organized theft can be presented as good government. The “extremists,” according to this understanding of politics, are the ones who refuse to participate in the fleecing.
The whole fiscal cliff debate revolves around redistributionist hectoring that casts collusion in organized theft as compromise. Under the patronage of the media, the politicians most responsible for the debt get to dictate the terms of compromise to the ones least responsible for it. Fiscal hawks receive regular media scolding for not agreeing to tax increases while the most prodigal members of Congress feel no such scrutiny and remain in control of the debate.
The preservation of federal government spending is so sacred that the establishment implicitly compares it to the abolition of slavery. Ruth Marcus of the Washington Post thinks President Obama should hold regular screenings of the movie Lincoln for members of Congress, such is the movie’s relevance to the fiscal cliff debate. A spate of articles, celebrating the glories of compromise on behalf of progressive goals, has appeared praising Honest Abe for his dishonesty as the movie depicts it.
Why pols would need encouragement to be dishonest in order to keep spending other people’s money isn’t clear. They are already very good at it. They don’t need to watch Lincoln to hone their skills. But the scene that Marcus proposes would capture the phoniness of Washington nicely: dishonest pols riveted to a semi-fabricated tale (one of the consultants on the movie has acknowledged that it is riddled with historical inaccuracies) based upon the work of an author known for her plagiarism. The burgeoning cult of Dishonest Abe befits this age in which pols like to see their vices projected as virtues on screen.
Bring back “earmarks,” burbled Joe Klein on ABC’s This Week during a discussion of the movie. Al Hunt recounts approvingly the corruption of LBJ. To get legislation passed, he would offer wavering politicians comically direct bribes from the budget: “A Model Cities bill intended to benefit large urban areas was resisted by Maine Democratic Senator Edmund Muskie. Johnson directed [Joseph] Califano to include a city from Maine, even though the state didn’t have any large metropolitan areas. ‘What city?’ the aide asked. ‘Any goddamn city he wants,’ LBJ replied.”
Hunt sees this style of politics as a cure to the fiscal cliff rather than a cause of it. If only Obama had the freedom to bribe Republicans with bridges to nowhere, America could move forward off more fiscal cliffs in the future.
But in the midst of their renewed enthusiasm about horse trading and grimy practical politics, reporters reserve the right to sniff at such “lobbyists” as Grover Norquist. Bribes are fine, but his tax reform group’s pledge, they say, has corrupted our politics.
Reporters are fond of the phrase “Republican orthodoxy,” though the very fact that conservatives like Norquist ask waffling Republicans to make pledges against tax hikes indicates that it doesn’t really exist. There is no Democratic equivalent to Grover Norquist asking Democrats to pledge never to cut taxes, because no Democrat would ever dare support such a policy. The orthodoxy of the Democratic Party is so tight that pledges are unnecessary.
Washington suffers from too little principle, not too little compromise. A party of bribes and broken pledges is the media’s idea of a revitalized party of Lincoln, but that would only hasten its collapse. As the debt crisis mounts, the Democrats will move from the rich to the middle class, justifying its emergency raids for revenue on Willie Sutton-like grounds — “because that’s where the money is.” When that day comes, the credibility of the GOP will turn upon whether or not it joined in the theft.
About the Author
George Neumayr, a contributing editor to The American Spectator, is co-author, with Phyllis Schlafly, of the new book, No Higher Power: Obama’s War on Religious Freedom.
Letter to the Editor View all comments (87) | Leave a comment
More Articles by George Neumayr
More Articles From A Further Perspective
http://spectator.org/archives/2012/11/28/claptrap-about-compromise
Follow us:
ADVERTISEMENT
Current Issue
- The Demise of Money and Credit
- Consternated Conferences
- What’s in a Name?
SPONSORED LINKS
FLASHBACK TO: 1995
-
Pope Culture
A man of faith in a godless age is hitting Americans where it hurts.
-
Why the GOP Does Not, Like, Totally Suck
Mr. and Mrs. American Spectator Reader, let P.J. O’Rourke talk sense to your kids.
-
Dames at Sea
-
In the Absence of Guns
In Britain, defending your property can get you life.
-
The Metaphysical Martini
-
Counting the Costs of Clintonism
The debacle of this president’s administration is both a cause and a symptom of the decline of American values. Unless Congress impeaches him, that decline will go on unchecked. An eminent jurist surveys the damage and assesses the chances for the recovery of our culture.
-
Chuck McHagel
It won’t take long for conservatives to scratch this presidential wannabe off their 2008 scorecard.
-
The Legacy of Old John and Mother Fresh-Roasted
-
It’s the Best Time of the Year
The American Christmas, like the songs that celebrate it, makes room for everybody under the rainbow. Is that why so many people seem to be hostile to it?
-
The Bush Crack-Up
Was the President done in by the economy, or by the politics of the economy?
Clip of the Day
H/T to National Review Online
ADVERTISEMENT
spike59| 11.28.12 @ 6:25AM
"Ruth Marcus of the Washington Post thinks"
----------------------------------------------------
i beg to differ
TLP| 11.28.12 @ 10:09AM
"If Mitt Romney wins the Presidency? I will BLOCK EVERYTHING HE WANTS TO GET DONE here in the Senate." Harry Ried.
How Fckng Stupid are these Republicans?
Don't Answer.
Occam's Tool| 11.28.12 @ 10:26AM
The Republicans control that portion of the Legislature from which money bills originate. There is a reason the Dems do not have control of that chamber. The Media is not the friend of the GOP. Either leave the Bush tax rates in place (whatever the details of loopholes, etc., although primary residence mortgage deductions should remain intact) or let the skies fall.
The GOP will win no friends by compromise and kindness. Do Blacks vote Republican due to the GOP pushing through the Civil Rights bill of 1964?
Like I said, I want to see my nurses get a tax hike and enjoy their reactions to the fact that they voted for Obama. They would still vote Dhimmi anyway; let them suffer for their choices.
loulou| 11.28.12 @ 11:24AM
Boehner and Cantor must go.
TLP| 11.28.12 @ 2:44PM
You can't fix Stupid.
Period.
PolishKnight| 11.28.12 @ 5:03PM
Indeed, OT, let's discuss the so-called civil rights act of 1964 (note the wording.)
The civil rights act of 1964 allowed for "affirmative action" and reverse discrimination and Hubert Humphrey supposedly swore he would "eat his hat" if the language in the bill allowed for quotas.
Good going on that one GOP! This is like the French putting in red carpet welcome teams for the Panzer crews and smoothing over those speed bumps so they get a gentle ride...
It's a delicious irony, or perhaps even intentional from the left, that the so-called 1964 civil rights act reversed racism, literally, and transformed the left from the party of the Klan to the party of white male bashing almost overnight. A party that had formerly lauded the working class men in the USSR hammer and sickle into bashing strawman Archie Bunker as a stupid, worthless loser to be tossed under the bus.
You gotta hand it to them, they're pretty smart.
Appleby| 11.28.12 @ 6:46AM
Stand back and let it crash. It's the only way.
Jack in Wi| 11.28.12 @ 7:19AM
About the only reason I voted fro Romney was because I thought he would build a machine like in Chicago or even in Chavez's Venezuela. We need a real party of opposition. One that opposes what is going on and offers sound solutions. The party has to go back to it's roots of low taxes, small govermeent, less regulation, sexual sanity, Equality before the law, and protection of human life. Let the Democrats be the party of sky high taxes, abortion, homosexuality, massive waste and regulation, corrupt government unions, a war on religion,endless war around the world, and discrimination based on race. The Democrats are the party of war, death, and taxes. We don't need another one.
Jack in Wi| 11.28.12 @ 7:22AM
I ment to say Obama, not Romney, would build a machine that would be almost impossible to dislodge. I hope the Republicnas can get their act together and stop it. Right now it does not look good.
Quartermaster| 11.28.12 @ 8:14AM
Jack, the GOP has *never* been a party of small government. The Establishment has not wavered in that either. Nor will they. They have always gone along with the Dims because their philosophy of Big FedGov matches the Dims in every respect. The party of Lincoln has always been a statist party.
Grzmlyk| 11.28.12 @ 9:28AM
Succinctly put. And true.
The gist of this article is correct: The target of this administration - and the Bolsheviks - isn't the rich. Hell, half the rich are on board with Obamanomics, vying for a piece of the fascist pie.
The real money, of course, is in the middle class. Unfortunately, America's political IQ has dipped far below the intellectual equivalent of the Mendoza line, and middle-class Obamatons busily sneering and throwing rocks at the "1%" don't even notice their economic power evaporating right before their eyes thanks to inflation - the most insidious tax of all.
And just listen to the propaganda being foisted on us by the pop culture! Housing is BACK! Consumer confidence is BACK! Black Friday and Cyber Monday were MONSTERS for retailers! Woo hoo! The Obama Gravy Train is at full speed!
This doesn't even rise to the level of smoke and mirrors. It's more like, "who you gonna believe? Obama or your lyin' eyes?" And, in unison, the sheep in line for slaughter gleefully chirp, "Why, you! Always and only you, our Lord and Savior!"
As for "compromise," I think we all know where Mitch and John and most of the rest of the dwarfs will end up - prostrate at the altar of the mainstream media's pop culture envy machine. They'll take it, alright, and they'll like it.
PolishKnight| 11.28.12 @ 9:57AM
Aside from the 40% of the population that voted for Obama for race and gender preferences, I know a number of Democrats who are in love with the Party because it claims to represent socialist Europe and will someday provide all the best that Western Europe had to offer as seen through tinted glasses: "free" healthcare, beautiful and vibrant cities with elegant public transportation, inexpensive education and an hour's train ride to hashish cafes or bordellos.
And yeah, going there sometimes I have to admit it's great as a visitor.
On the practical side, however, unemployment for the good jobs is high while they have their own version of undocumented aliens coming in to do work that their locals don't want to do (or have deflated wages through a feedback loop effect.) Their economy is as bad, or worse, than ours only they don't have the majority of their electorate as third worlder race entitlement seekers.
So yeah, I would say that the leftists are "stupid" in the sense that the majority of them are bread-and-circus welfare types and the rest are intelligent but religiously self-deceived bigots similar to that albino self-flaggellating monk in The DaVinci Code. Take your pick.
Grzmlyk| 11.28.12 @ 10:16AM
The thing is, though, tourism is a huge source of income for them - or was before the Euro kind of trashed everything. So all of the countries put their best foot forward - even France, which hates Americans but used to love U.S. dollars.
But ever since socialism swept the continent post WWII, the core of Europe has been hollowed out - public transport union strikes regularly disrupt daily routines, and of course the pension system, aided by devastating demographics, has destroyed not only the economic base, but it’s leeched out any character they had left. Of course since NATO they haven't had to defend themselves, either.
Europe also has an ancient layout - a myriad of tight urban spaces and limited “lebensraum” on a per-country basis; the automobile was never the totem of freedom over there that it was over here as Americans began to traverse wide expanses. Socialism is of course bred in cities.
And we see the immigration chickens are coming home to roost in Europe – the moors will be avenged, if six centuries late.
Americans are fools - if socialism doesn't work over there, where it was born and weaned, it can't work here - but the Obama regime will force us to genuflect before it anyway. And far too many fools will be only too happy to place their necks in the guillotine because they’ll be so distracted by their own preening moral vanity.
Appleby| 11.28.12 @ 10:34AM
Bernie Ecclestone, owner of Formula One and pursuer of the last dime on earth he doesn't already have, put a Formula One race in Indianapolis under the delusion that it was centrally located and therefore Americans would drive to it from all over the country. Besides the fact that a very large percentage of race fans wouldn't cross the street to see anything the Hulman Family owned or controlled, when Bernie made that decree it was clearly obvious that he had no conception of the size of the USA and how long it would take to drive from anywhere to Indianapolis. We suffer the same kind of blindness locally from those who would have everyone in Toronto commute to work either by bicycle or on foot. The Euros do it, why can't we?
Grzmlyk| 11.28.12 @ 10:44AM
Well said, Appleby - this is why Obama is pushing the chimeric "high speed rail." Of course America's socialists want to herd all of us into the corral of urban environments, take our cars away from us and then have us in the pen where we can easily be branded, fatted and led to slaughter.
Nothing on earth epitomizes what socialists hate about America more than the automobile. It's a symbol of freedom, individuality and mobility. Anathema to these cretins.
loulou| 11.28.12 @ 11:26AM
They hate the auto, central heating and air conditioning. No doubt some progressives hate the flush toilet as well.
TLP| 11.28.12 @ 2:46PM
They're all White.
So, you might be right
PolishKnight| 11.28.12 @ 5:15PM
Actually, Grzmlyk it's the opposite. Working class folks I know struggle to make ends meet with gasoline, licensing, inspection and other costs of a car. And with that driver's license, the taxman knows where to find you. Want to go enjoy a drink? Unless you want to end up in the slammer from the MADD prohibitionists, think again! But with public transit, within reason, you could get buzzed and ride home.
But yeah, with the car and people's walks being from their front door to their car and then from the car to work, the American public are being "fattened up" alright. My European friends always make me pick the fat girls because I have it coming. :-)
PolishKnight| 11.28.12 @ 5:13PM
It costs money and it takes a well organized government (well, we lose there!) to get light rail and trams and a bus service going, but when it's going, it's amazingly efficient even for big countries such as Russia. For the princely sum of a dollar or two, I could go all around cities and out to the suburbs easily. Since most people use the system, they are quite civilized. My wife hates to use public transit here because since the middle class avoids it, the crazies and poor drive them off plus the "other" factors we can't discuss in PC America.
But yeah, it is doable. Don't let Firestone tell you otherwise.
And all that walking and getting around helps people know their communities and lose weight. Women's legs are TONED. And I think eating what you carry on a tram on the way home helps to put your meal choices into perspective...
Grzmlyk| 11.28.12 @ 8:17PM
Polish Knight, I must disagree. If you look at the history of the automobile, and the evolution of middle-class prosperity in America, they pretty much go hand in hand since the advent of the 20th century. This is a major point of cultural divergence between America and Europe; I’m not saying Europe doesn’t have its charms, but it’s kind of apples and oranges.
The automobile is very much a symbol of American independence. My point is that Europe is configured differently; yes, there is agrarian land, of course and nominal suburbs, but cities are more compact, closer together and more walkable in Europe than in America. Suburbs cropped up here after Eisenhower had the interstate highway system built, and an entire class of Americans sprang up virtually overnight thanks to that and the post-war boom- the birth of the "bedroom community" and things like Levittown (which actually preceded the interstate system by a few years, but was the prototype for much housing development to follow). I mean, the mall is a quintessentially American invention – for better AND worse.
Grzmlyk| 11.28.12 @ 8:20PM
(cont'd)
You can see evidence of this cultural sea change in movies – from the 20s through the late 40s, most movies took place in urban settings – they had an almost European feel, with occasional bucolic-themed films coming out now and then. The 50s and 60s gave birth to an entirely new kind of American movie (not to mention typical television shows of the era, most of which mythologized suburbia). This reshaping of the American landscape was accompanied by a whole new set of expectations Americans had about lifestyle – there is nothing really comparable in Europe during that period (yes, part of this was due to post-war rebuilding).
Yes, gas has become exorbitant, and cars have become very expensive - in no small part due to onerous government regulations - but that's part of the point - the government wants to make the automobile obsolete. I mean, they’re mandating something like 55MPG by 2525, which will completely gut the comfort and security we find in our cars even today. Lefties view the car as a symbol of our profligate decadence and, as I say, it's easier to control a populace if they only have a few avenues of transport.
Grzmlyk| 11.28.12 @ 8:20PM
(cont'd)
You can shut down a subway system and the people have nowhere to go. Just look at the difference in size of a typical European car and an American car during this fecund period of growth in transport, and the difference is quite apparent. I mean, America is easily twice the size of Europe, with much greater distances between major cities; our wide expanses from sea to sea are ideally suited to an automobile lifestyle.
Please don’t confuse your affection for public transport and European charm with my overall point; I'm not saying there isn't a place for public transportation – there definitely is - and I love European cities, even with the crazy congestion. And I lived in NYC and Boston for a total of 18 years; I never owned a car, and I didn't want one. In Vermont, however, I could not do what I do in my life without one. And do you know anyone in L.A. who doesn’t own a car? But the real gist is that much of "Red state America" does not live in cities – they live in suburbs and exurbs where public transportation is far less practical, and they enjoy the freedom that the automobile facilitates.
Grzmlyk| 11.28.12 @ 8:21PM
(cont'd)
Make no mistake – the Utopias being drawn up on liberals’ maps plan for the forced obsolescence of the automobile. It is much easier to control a populace when you control their transportation. I can tell you also that much light rail that's been built in America in the last 30 years goes unused - people don't want it unless the benefits are clear – and, for a very large swath of Americans, that is not the case.
This isn’t a question of Firestone “telling me otherwise.” It is a question of freedom – if you prefer to live a lifestyle in which public transportation is your primary means of conveyance, knock yourself out. But do not force me to life the way you think I should live.
PolishKnight| 11.28.12 @ 5:08PM
Some of the nicest people I met are from France but usually the countryside. It would be like generalizing about the USA based upon NYC, Los Angeles, and San Francisco.
What's funny is that a lot of leftists I know haven't set foot in Europe even as tourists much less know anyone there to give them the full scoop about what things are like. When hanging out with my Swiss friend in a tour of Switzerland, I struck up a conversation with a middle class looking young man who spoke perfect English. After chatting with him for 20 minutes, he asked me: "Can I have 20 dollars?" I said f off and was amused. A society of beggars! My Swiss friend was even more rough: She told the well dressed, well fed panhandlers with their sob stories they should have planned better. Deal with it.
I guess if I had to sum up Europe, it would be like going to Disneyworld where everything appears clean and well maintained but you don't see the village where the workers live or any of the various "peasants" hanging out. As tourists, you enjoy (at a premium) fine dining and excursions but the locals eat spam and eggs at their huts in the company town.
CJW| 11.28.12 @ 10:26AM
Mr G
There are many high income voters who vote for Dems because they make money from big government.
For example, tax lawyers and accountants and life insurance companies love the complicated tax code because make money on tax planning, estate planning, and life insurance policies for estate planning. Doctors, hospitals, therapists, and others all complain about Medicare but they have learned how to bill Medicare and make money.
The super rich entertainers soothe their guilty conscience about making so much money by crying for the government to do "more" for the poor.
An increase in the tax rate does not affect these people much since they have a high income, and do pay much of their daily expenses as business expenses.
Occam's Tool| 11.28.12 @ 10:29AM
CJW: Sorry, but I got out of the Medicare business because it is VERY hard to bill Medicare and make decent money for the time put in. I work for the State because I make more money there than in the Medi/Medi world of private practice.
And, in case you are wondering, I'm in the top 5% of my specialty now. I was in the top 10% then.
CJW| 11.28.12 @ 4:45PM
OT
You are the exception.
My point is that attorneys, doctors, engineers and other high income workers who draw a government paycheck generally favor a big, expanding government since it is in their financial interest, and the party of big government is the Dems.
Grzmlyk| 11.28.12 @ 10:53AM
CJW, I agree - although I also agree with Occam below; I used to work at an OB/GYN at the old New York Hospital, and I can tell you that anything that started with "Medi" was a loser.
However, the practice I worked with was honest. More opportunistic doctors have learned to play the system. It's the vaunted "waste, fraud and abuse" that "brave" politicians promise they'll go after year after year to bring costs under control. that's a real thigh slapper - it's like saying they're going to take the wetness out of water.
And yeah, the tax code is 88,000 pages because more surface area means more touch points for lawyers, lobbyists, accountants, planners, etc. It's a huge industry - 100% parasitic, too; nothing of value is produced, yet millions earn a very comfy living in it.
Don't get me startedon Hollywood. These people, most of whom "made it" when they were very young, are borderline morons, yet are treated like royalty and given perks that alone dwarf my income, not to mention the salaries these boobs are paid (Charlie Sheen TURNED DOWN $2.2 million per episode of 2 1/2 Men for 22 episodes - it wasn't enough!). They can barely dress themselves, yet suddenly they're fonts of political wisdom.
Anthony| 11.28.12 @ 10:48AM
Spot on Grzmlyk, just wait until Obozo and the political whores in Washington attempt to seize individual IRA's in return for a government annuity, like Social Security. The I.Q. of the middle class will suddenly rise.
We won't need Term Limits, they'll be hundreds of open seats.
Grzmlyk| 11.28.12 @ 11:03AM
Anthony, I think you are overestimating the elasticity of the American political mind.
There are four kinds of liberal: Fools, crooks, pawns and vandals.
The fools will support this because "government is inherently good and selfless," whereas "capitalism and business are inherently evil and greedy." They'll love the government teat being offered to everyone who can put their hand out - right up until they realize the checks won't clear. Then they'll just insist the government print more money, and the government will oblige. Any blame for the ensuing debacle will be laid on capitalism (and, of course, George Bush).
The crooks will figure out how to game the system, either by outright fraud, becoming parasites affixed to the new organism or becoming paid members of the Army of the IRS.
The Pawns will actually benefit from the Bread and Circuses - until the checks won't clear. Then they'll join the fools in marching on Washington until more Monopoly Money is minted. And, as with the fools, the ensuing collapse will be blamed on capitalism (and, of course, George Bush).
The vandals (of which Obama is one) will simply rejoice at the destruction, even if it means their own demise. Such is the nature of malignancy.
Anthony| 11.28.12 @ 11:24AM
Grzmlyk, You may be right about the lack of elasticity of the American political mind. A very thoughtful analysis, by the way.
However, when the elasticity of the personal wallet finally hits these rigid minds, and last months portfolio statement is used as bathroom wallpaper, I'd not hasten to bet that the lifespan of any pol still in Washington would not outlive that of a nat.
Grzmlyk| 11.28.12 @ 11:59AM
Thank you, Anthony. I'm sure you're right about the lifespan of these pols. But then the idiot voters will just throw the old bastards out for new bastards who will promise that the perpetual money machine will never stop.
I mean, France voted in Hollande, for chrissakes, and Greece won't take "no more money" for an answer, so the European Central Bank, IMF and the European Commission just agreed to pony up another $57 billion. When Germany and the rest get tired of carrying the EU load, we'll see what happens when "no more money" means "no more money."
That's where society breaks down and elections become moot, overrun as they will be by chaos, looting, rioting and other forms of reductive tribal behavior. Sadly, I believe that the future of Greece is Lord of the Flies. The future of America is even bleaker.
Anthony| 11.28.12 @ 1:36PM
Well Grzmlyk, then we just have to hope that they finally run out of leftist bastards to run for office. Perhaps we can make a slight contribution to the cause.
Grzmlyk| 11.28.12 @ 2:41PM
Unfortunately, there is never a shortage of crooks. Would that there were.
There are far fewer honest men in this world.
But I shall do my best. Remember the Alamo, I guess.
Bill Hussein O'Stalin| 11.28.12 @ 7:01AM
After reading your article I wonder if there isn't a little of Willie Sutton in the majority of Americans now who want to see the rich brought down and more than a notch.
Stephie| 11.28.12 @ 8:43AM
Not me Bill. I rely on the rich to come into my store and by what I sell.
Stephie| 11.28.12 @ 8:46AM
"buy" what I sell.
TLP| 11.28.12 @ 10:13AM
Obviously, you're not selling Spellcheck Buttons or Edit Apps.
We could use you at The Contest on Friday, Stephie.
Mispelled words, and all.
Joellen| 11.28.12 @ 7:15AM
Those who voted for the derelict politicians are also part of the cause of the fiscal cliff emergency. They voted them in, now they own what's about to happen.
TLP| 11.28.12 @ 10:15AM
Look, Miss Hottie. Appleby is absolutely correct when she Copies my LET IT CRASH chant.
Only Rock Bottom can save us, now.
Von Mises Jr| 11.28.12 @ 7:21AM
This is ludicrous. The pols have been robbing the Middle Class blind since the creation of the Federal Reserve BANK. Nixon institutionalized the theft with the end of the Gold Standard. Our dollar is worth about $0.03 of its value since the creation of the Federal Reserve BANK.
We also had Trust Funds that are similar to BANKS. Social Security Trust Fund has been pilfered for $2.5 trillion. Medicare is so broke that it eats up $500B of our current budgets. ObamaCare began with a $716B theft of current and past workers premiums. And the State Pension Plans are $2.5 trillion in the hole and currently funded at $0.27 on the dollar. Most of the Public Employee Cadillac Health Plans are paid out of existing Operating Budgets that means they are also unfunded liabilities.
This is nonsensical. The pols not only robbed us blind. There is nothing left and most morons don't understand or refuse to accept the grim reality.
Pecos Pete| 11.28.12 @ 7:39AM
Von: You are correct: "This is ludicrous."
I would add that as the nation's credit rating declines the cost of interest on the nation's debt will rise dramatically. As interest payments increase there will be even less money for goodies. Taxes will be increased. Ultimately this house of cards will fall.
Von Mises Jr| 11.28.12 @ 8:39AM
You got it brother. One-and-a-half percent bonds sold to the Fed keep the interest on the debt around $220B. If you financed the same $16T at 5%, the cost would triple.
For 2013, the Federal Budget (although we don't actually have one) is $525B for Defense, $820B for Social Security, $523B for Medicare and $283B for Medicaid. These plus current interest payments equal $2.37 trillion. This is $200B more than 2011 tax receipts. We will finance about $1.6 trillion in 2013 and if interest payments on the debt go up $300B, that is $300B more that we don't have.
This is when Bond vigilantes demand 30% interest like Greek Bonds, it all comes crashing down and Perp is throwing rocks through bank plate glass windows when his EBT Card is rejected.
Martin kzovich| 11.28.12 @ 7:50AM
I agree with your basic point that Republicans collusion with the Left and it is why many may not have voted in this last election btw. In my view one must ask this question: First is there a unified goal for the GOP--My one word answer is NO. There are in fact conflicting ideas about what it should be --go along to get along versus being a real alternative opposition party. This past election is a red line as to the future of the GOP at least for me. If any moderates are future Presidential nominees say for example Jeb Bush there WILL be a need for a Third Party because the current situation is not workable.
Ken (Old Texican)| 11.28.12 @ 8:12AM
My best friend'ds first words after the election: : OK so who do I shoot...first?
I suggested MSM news anchors but only small bore in the leg to remind them for a few months to maybe balance out the news.
He responded: "Perhaps, but our own so-called conservative pundits need a bullet in the leg too."
We have Iran hovering on the horizon like a line of thunder-storms . We have a President who cannot figure out if he would rather be a muslim...or a communist.
George, there is going to be a slip up by the guys putting us in velvet chains.
At that point five million rifles come out to say "NO"!
(lots of needless bodies")
We ought to have a better plan than that.
So...newscasters? newscasters bosses? Avowed communists in our government?
We got lots of bullets so who do we shoot ...first?
RCV| 11.28.12 @ 11:50AM
Ken: Do you never tire of this juvenile "I'm a rough tough Texas Ranger" silliness?
Ken (Old Texican)| 11.28.12 @ 5:55PM
No, I never do.
In 1776 only about ten percent of the men actually stood to arms. It was enough, Very few like John Hancock encouraged them...that they were not helpless.
Hancock paid a hell of a price for his forthrightness. I expectI will too. I'm 68. A big part of my life is encouraging the youngers. Better dead than led like sheep as you are.
Quartermaster| 11.28.12 @ 8:17AM
Ken, the likelyhood of those rifles coming out in large numbers ia about the same as me being struck by lightening while I'm walking on the surface of the moon without a pressure suit. I'd like to be wrong, but I don't see sufficient moral fiber in this country to say "no" to FedGov.
Jack in Wi| 11.28.12 @ 8:38AM
The Quartermaster makes the most sense today. Keep up the good work.
KennesawJack| 11.28.12 @ 9:13AM
Sadly, QM is, indeed, right about this.
Albert Constantine Jr.| 11.28.12 @ 9:43AM
He is correct, but when one considers the number of people who actually participated on our side in the American Revolution (as an example), compared to those who actively opposed, and the large mass that stood on the sidelines, it should be understood that the numbers required aren't large.
It is quite likely, though, that as with ballots, an insufficient number with bullets would step forward in any event, even if a relatively small number would be necessary to support and defend the Constitution.
Occam's Tool| 11.28.12 @ 10:34AM
Not for a while, yet.
Last night I was listening to Sean Hannity, and some Libtard C*&T (sorry, RCV, but there is no other way to describe her) was saying that she "would be fine with that" if her 14 year old child smoked Marijuana. I am neither making this up nor exaggerating.
As readers of this Blog know, I work with Native Americans on the Rezzes of NW Minnesota. MJ is not harmless in today's THC concentrations, and about 50-70% of my patients come in with MJ on their urine screens. It carries a risk of inducing schizophrenia that is well documented.
The effect of legalizing MJ will be to decimate our minority communities still more.
RCV| 11.28.12 @ 11:57AM
This is a difficult issue, Occam. I take no issue with your correct conclusion that legalization of marijuana would have a overall devastating negative effect, not only on Native Americans, but on young people everywhere. There are just too many people who cannot handle access to drugs, and I have seen countless tragic cases in our justice system of lives ruined.
However, there is another side to the equation. Legalization of alcohol has ruined countless lives as well; but we know the alternative damage from making it illegal was far greater. Making marijuana distribution a profitable monopoly for organized crime and gangs has produced enormous numbers of violent deaths as these thugs compete for the valuable distribution rights.
I am at a loss at present to decide which regime produces worse results.
Drunken Sailor| 11.28.12 @ 2:23PM
Let me get this straight. Legalize pot is good because it raises revenue but tobacco is bad becuase it jacks up health care cost?
JD| 11.28.12 @ 7:10PM
The proper conclusion here is that it's hard to protect people from their own stupidity, and that those who settle for nothing less than utopian outcomes shouldn't be anywhere near the policy-making process.
Grzmlyk| 11.28.12 @ 12:31PM
Occam: I don't know the answer to legalization of weed. But I can tell you this: I was a dyed-in-the-wool pot head for 20 years. I didn't act like one - I functioned (as best I could), I didn't hang out with wastrels and I tried to minimize being part of the culture - but acquiring it so frequently necessitated a certain amount of exposure to people you wouldn't trust to guide you across a one-lane country road, and I have no end of stories about foolish and often dangerous risks I took in getting it, money I spent that I didn't have, and social situations I plodded through like a zombie under its influence.
I finally figured out that life is one hell of a lot simpler, and easier to negotiate, and honest, and joyful, without it.
Once I finally turned the corner, I never looked back. What a waste of life to spend your minutes, hours, days, months and years stoned.
The upside is far outweighed by the downside.
I'm a slow learner, but, eventually, I do learn.
CJW| 11.28.12 @ 1:51PM
On a practical level MJ is already "legal." In Pa, as probably other states, a first time conviction of less than one ounce means a 30 day probabion without verdict, which means no convicition. The penalties get serious only if you are a seller, and then in most cases it is still only probation, especially if you get arrested in the big counties. If you get arrested in a small county you will have more problems.
Drunken Sailor| 11.28.12 @ 2:25PM
I still find it amusing that sresident in some states vote to make it legal and then then are surprised when the DEA sweeps in and shuts down the Pot clinics.
BShep| 11.28.12 @ 12:48PM
The rifles will come out right after the food riots start, sometime in the summer of 2014 I would guess.
Jasperfenton| 11.28.12 @ 8:43AM
I'm with Quartermaster. I'm frustrated and angry beyond words, yet I see no practical way to resist other than to stop paying taxes. If I did that, everything I've worked so hard for all these years would be seized and my family would be left with nothing. The Democrats are thieves and the Republicans are gutless- tell me something I don't know. What in the hell are we going to do?
Ronsch| 11.28.12 @ 5:11PM
Jasper,
you do not stop paying taxes...What you do is take every damn legal deduction you possibly can...Then, if you are auditied, or the tax bill comes due, you simply file extension after extension...Culminate that with a Turbotax Timmy's defense of.."but it was the stupid computer program." By the time 4 or 5 years pass, the .gov will have crashed and burned. Worse case, you engage in a "repayment plan" with the kinder, friendly IRS jackboots at something like $50.00 per month...
KennesawJack| 11.28.12 @ 9:16AM
A suggestion was made by someone on another thread a day or so ago that may bear serious consideration. The suggestion was to begin to boycott powerful forces in the country, the first being television. Simply cancel your cable or satellite subscription and watch what happens to the msm. Next, how about everything made by GE for the consumer goods market? Then, how about everything made by any auto company that got a bail-out? Nothing speaks more truth and with more force than money.
Occam's Tool| 11.28.12 @ 10:36AM
KJ (the Great Jack): ahead of you. I cancelled my cable over a year ago.
Netflix has a whole line of SpongeBob cartoons, which my kids still like (so do I, especially Mermaid man)
TLP| 11.28.12 @ 2:49PM
Mermaid Man?
What about Fallout Boy?
KennesawJack| 11.28.12 @ 3:39PM
You know, I never used to worry about you two but now am starting to wonder. Seriously, Mermaid Man and Fallout Boy?
KennesawJack| 11.28.12 @ 3:41PM
And isn't a male being that's half fish, half human called a Merman?
TLP| 11.28.12 @ 4:48PM
You really need to Get Your Mind Right, and watch SpongeBob.
Trust me.
You won't be disappointed.
CJW| 11.28.12 @ 4:50PM
K Jack
Remember Daryl Hannah in "Mermaid?" John Candy yelled my brother just f****d a fish!
KennesawJack| 11.28.12 @ 4:58PM
I remember Daryl Hannah in the movie but, for some reason, don't recall any of the dialogue!
Albert Constantine Jr.| 11.28.12 @ 9:23AM
I realize that this remark is less about compromise and more about what was once called a compromising position, but as I gazed at the picture of the microphoned woman at the top of the article, it occurred to me that if there was a tattoo on one of those covered shoulders, I could be looking at an age-progressed photo of Lena Dunham, waxing nostalgically about her first time (and the case of herpes the "great guy" left her).
Anthony| 11.28.12 @ 10:03AM
The Italian people, when they finally had enough of Mussolini's destruction of Italy, had the right idea when the hung Mussolini upside down by his legs from a pole.
Perhaps some Washington pols hanging upside down along D.C. lamp posts will finally send the right message.
Al Adab| 11.28.12 @ 10:22AM
Why is it that compromise seems to be a one way street? Only the GOP is expected to compromise its principles while the Left demands ever more statism as the "answer" to problems of its own creation. There can be no compromise with evil no matter how well intentioned.
Louis Jenkins| 11.28.12 @ 10:45AM
Obviously Mr. Neumayr dislikes the movie about Lincoln or he dislikes Lincoln. Don't know which. Norquist's mistake was asking new Republicans to toe the line, which in itself isn't bad, until the Democrats won big (again). So now the attention is on him. Too bad.
I'll have to agree with a couple of comments. The ultra-rich will remain well off and are in Obama's bag. The next move, once as much of the uper-rich's money has been siphoned off (which will only operate the economy for a couple of days, ie $216.00 dollar per man and woman borrowed on black Friday), the next target is the middle class.
As far as Ken (The Old Texican) has stated, the weapons may indeed come into play, but the newsmedia? These people are borrowing on us, not themselves. Let us go over the fiscal cliff. It will be a joyous crash.
Who Knows?| 11.28.12 @ 11:22AM
“Under the patronage of the media, the politicians most responsible for the debt get to dictate the terms of compromise to the ones least responsible for it.”
You ALMOST get it.
All the concern about the MSM being “biased” continues to be a distraction. While this goes on, it is unnoticed that it is the MSM that is in control.
The “main stream media” is not just the NYT, the WaPo, ABC, NBC, CNN, etc, but also academia and the entertainment industry.
Spread this WORD wealth!
I’ve come to understand that practically everybody DOES already realize this, albeit mostly and for most of them at a subconscious level. Why do you think people don’t vote? They KNOW what’s what, and who’s in charge, and they KNOW they have to keep a low profile, just go along, and leave the struggle to the fools who think they can change things.
In short, it’s the culture (that’s) stupid!
And, that fictional philosopher, boy Gump, encapsulated the entire condition by pithily tying IS to DOES---how could a stupid culture that IS, keep itself going, as it IS, except by DOING stupid acts?
Note---a culture is made up of individuals.
Have you spotted many NOT-STUPID ones, lately?
Why, the election was just the latest test, and STUPID won.
Ken (Old Texican)| 11.28.12 @ 11:48AM
(Native) Texans will not be herded! It is "Remember the Alamo"! time for us.
It is a cultural thing, and if you aint from here, learn to fake it. ...or be caught in between..
Thom| 11.28.12 @ 3:32PM
Once you throw the central tenet of a republic out the window and start shifting the tax burden disproportionally onto a minority as we started to do in 1913, human nature (unrestrained envy, jealously, sloth) will take over. As more and more moochers take hold this all becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy between a new class of tax consuming slaves and their political masters.
The story is as old as time itself but about every other generation becomes about as dumb as a fence post and ignores the wisdom of the ages. Each slave in their own little world figures they can beat the odds and when the music stops they've a seat. A minor figure in history wrote, "Fere libenter homines id quod volunt credunt." and his "republic" lasted nearly 1000 years and took 200 to die. A majority of American voters all think this practice can continue and they won't suffer any consequences for their willingness to believe in economic fairy tales and we've covered half the distance already it took Rome to fall never to rise again.
Thom| 11.28.12 @ 3:33PM
People will willingly believe what they wish until there are consequences to their beliefs. Our government is burying us in a mountain of debt to maintain the fairy tales told nearly 100 years ago in order to maintain the illusions its supporters feed upon. Whoever writes the history of the failed American experiment in self-rule will probably note that the American "republic" was but a minor affair in human history compared to Rome. Rome died when Romans stopped being Romans.
Anyone hoping "good men" will rise up and save the "republic" are suffering a fatal attraction to wishful thinking. Much of our society is built up the belief that they can live off of someone else's labor. Money is just an exchange medium for that. Money is wealth to the ignorant class. Once you destroy the incentives for "industry", risk taking and reward there won't be any invisible wealth to go steal and the dog eat dog world our tax policies have produced will run their course through the herd. Words indeed do mean things in a "republic" but words have never meant anything of permanence in a "democracy". When words have no meaning, cynicism rules followed by death of self-rule.
Simon Templar| 11.28.12 @ 7:23PM
If you want to see the what the future of the USA will look like than look at Europe because that is the model they are aiming at.
Taxes eventually at 75 percent and redistribution of wealth.
No opportunity for small business and upward mobility. Less innovations and advancements.
High levels of unemployment.
Godless, antagonistic society against all forms of religious belief and a anomic society that limits free speech and thought. That is a state or condition of individuals or society characterized by a breakdown or absence of social norms and values, as in the case of uprooted people. Balkanization and invasion of hostile illegal and legal aliens and immigrants.
A very small but highly educated middle class. A sizable upper class and a sizable lower class. Government control of every aspect of life and economic activity down to the local level. An economy that treads water at best but never expands. Large amounts of people on drugs and much daily activity devoted to debauchery.
Welcome to the brave new world.
same| 11.28.12 @ 8:04PM
Ridiculous.
I am astounded that Repubs actually believed their improbable sloganeering during the election. It's OK to call the other side all sorts of names during the election run-up, so long as you don't really believe the absurd hype once the results are in. You only do damage to yourselves when you believe your own nonsense.
btw, My predictions ALL panned out.
Prediction for 2016: Obama's coalition will not hold. Tea Party will be irrelevant. Jerry Brown will prove more successful than Scott Walker. Ryan couldn't carry his own State, and will not be reelected in 2014. (People who lie about their marathon times should not be trusted -- he will be discovered having an affair!)
spike59| 11.29.12 @ 6:16AM
Jerry Brown will be fortunate to prove more successful this time than his earlier tenure, which was, and he's admitted it, a DISASTER; he's not showing that he's learned anything worthwhile since, except maybe that there's only so much mileage you can get out of sleeping on the floor, even if it's with Linda Ronstadt
as for Ryan, he'll cruise to re-election...'marathon times'...seriously, you REALLY think that that's relevant, especially when ObaMao won re-election having lied so often and so flagrantly, his middle name has been legally changed to 'milhous'...
the obituary of the TEA Party has been written more times than a Juan Epstein excuse note...and yet, there they are, still rolling...how's that 'Coffee Party' doing these days, anyway?
Simon Templar| 11.29.12 @ 4:53PM
Yeah, and so did mine. I predicted the day that Romney was nominated that we would lose. I predicted he would be nominated. I predicted that Jerry Brown would be elected, Bohner would be a boner, and there would be more fraudulent voting and voter fraud than the last election where he actually did win and it was not necessary.
Your arrogance is astounding but we predicted that as well because your pathetically predictable liberal troll. Yeah and people who lie about videos, terrorist attacks, and lie to the public should not only be trusted but should be impeached and sent to jail.
Any idiot that thinks without federal bailouts that California will be successful really is delusional.
My prediction. Some day you will get a life and stop trolling and grow up. On second thought, I take that one back.
Ron Ackenberry| 11.28.12 @ 8:14PM
"Bolsheviks" and "redistributionists"?
Bollocks!
Where do you idiots come up with nonsense like that? Frankly, I am embarrassed for you.
It would really help this country if you would get counseling or take the right colored pill for awhile because we need sane and sensible spokesmen in both parties.
I found you article, besides the above, totally without substance or merit.
Geez.
Obama won, get over it.
Quickly, for everyone's sake.
spike59| 11.29.12 @ 5:55AM
"Obama won, get over it."
-----------------------------------
so, since ObaMao won the election by a smaller margin than the majority of the new Republican Congressman, everyone is supposed to roll over as if he won every state in the Union by a 30 point landslide and picked up every electoral vote? sorry, scooter, it doesn't work that way; you must be thinking about some third world hellhole like Venezuela or North Korea...in THIS country, the President is NOT the head of the entire government; EVERYONE in the House and Senate, regardless of party, won their last election, which means no more or LESS 'mandate' than ObaMao; for all his pretense of being for the middle class, the truth is, he LOST the middle class
merlin| 11.28.12 @ 10:04PM
Ron A, have you ever heard of the Kipling poem "The Gods of the Copybook Headings"? Don't worry if you haven't. You may get to experience it.
xavier2012 | 11.28.12 @ 10:30PM
Economic and political are complementary.
Rhoetus| 11.28.12 @ 10:35PM
The pols have bankrupted the US. Paying more hurt me, my family and all of us. It's better that congress cut real spending- but they have the hutzpa to ask for more while they have no intention to ever really cut spending.
spike59| 11.29.12 @ 6:02AM
There was, at one time, an admission reflecting rare honesty from one of the darlings of the Progressives, 'One-Term-Tom' Periello, at the time (2010) a Democrat Congressman from VA:
“If you don't tie our hands, we will keep stealing”