One of the favorite "arguments" (if that word doesn't connote too much thoughtfulness to be applied to such statements) of tea party enthusiasts is that the government, just like Americans, needs to live "within its means."
Since when do Americans live within their means?
The last time I checked, which was about 5 minutes ago, the average amount of personal debt held by Americans, which includes mortgages, car loans, student loans and credit card debt, was almost $52,000. By contrast, Americans' average annual savings is only about $7,000 per family. In other words, Americans live on credit, and have been for some time, just like the Federal government, only more so.
So, the idea that Americans balance their budget and live within their means is, like everything else these tea party enthusiasts make up, well, made up. What a surprise.
Showing posts with label Republicans. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Republicans. Show all posts
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Let's Mess With Texas
When I was in New Orleans at Jazz Fest recently, my wife and I had a good laugh at a t-shirt we saw for sale in a store that said, over a logo of the state of Texas, "Let's Mess With Texas."
Last night, a friend and I brainstormed the following scenario: Let the Tea Party and their followers have Texas, and let Texas secede from the United States, as they have actually proposed doing.
The Tea Party and the Republican politicians under their immediate control have been strongly advocating for a drastic reduction of the Federal government ("Get your government hands off my Medicare!"). Why not let these morons test their theory for real? Here's how it would work:
All Tea Party members and other Republicans who claim to want a dissolution of government would go to Texas, signing a pledge to stay there for a minimum 10-year period. During that time, they would also have to pledge to do no business with any other states (that would violate their no-government philosophy). They would be able to receive no imports from the United States, and would also not be able to access any infrastructure services emanating from the United States (no telephone, Internet, radio or television broadcasting, U.S. mail, water, sewage treatment, garbage collection, electricity generation, etc. All of these would have to be provided within Texas, or through direct commerce with other countries but without any assistance from the U.S. government. They would also, of course, have to provide all of their own education, transportation, law-enforcement, emergency and medical services within state. Needless to say, the citizens of Texas would have to build their own roads, grow their own fruit and vegetables, raise their own meat, etc. Luckily Texas is wealthy in natural resources, particularly oil. However, the benefits of any pipelines importing or exporting oil through the U.S. would have to be foregone.
It would, of course, be entirely up to these citizens of Texas to determine whether or not to maintain a state governing body, or whether to take up a tax collection.
After 10 years, we would evaluate the success of the experiment. If, as the Tea Party caucus claims, no taxes and a lack of government spur employment and wealth, Texas would be overflowing with money and wealth, and have virtually no unemployment. In that event, we others would agree to let Texas take over the rest of the states, kick out all non-whites, imprison all poor people, and confiscate their property for immediate transfer to a Billionnaire Asset Acquisition Fund.
If not, and the experiment proved to no one's surprise to be a miserable and demoralizing failure, then the Texas secession would be declared permanent and all its citizens would be henceforth treated as illegal immigrants in the U.S.
Last night, a friend and I brainstormed the following scenario: Let the Tea Party and their followers have Texas, and let Texas secede from the United States, as they have actually proposed doing.
The Tea Party and the Republican politicians under their immediate control have been strongly advocating for a drastic reduction of the Federal government ("Get your government hands off my Medicare!"). Why not let these morons test their theory for real? Here's how it would work:
All Tea Party members and other Republicans who claim to want a dissolution of government would go to Texas, signing a pledge to stay there for a minimum 10-year period. During that time, they would also have to pledge to do no business with any other states (that would violate their no-government philosophy). They would be able to receive no imports from the United States, and would also not be able to access any infrastructure services emanating from the United States (no telephone, Internet, radio or television broadcasting, U.S. mail, water, sewage treatment, garbage collection, electricity generation, etc. All of these would have to be provided within Texas, or through direct commerce with other countries but without any assistance from the U.S. government. They would also, of course, have to provide all of their own education, transportation, law-enforcement, emergency and medical services within state. Needless to say, the citizens of Texas would have to build their own roads, grow their own fruit and vegetables, raise their own meat, etc. Luckily Texas is wealthy in natural resources, particularly oil. However, the benefits of any pipelines importing or exporting oil through the U.S. would have to be foregone.
It would, of course, be entirely up to these citizens of Texas to determine whether or not to maintain a state governing body, or whether to take up a tax collection.
After 10 years, we would evaluate the success of the experiment. If, as the Tea Party caucus claims, no taxes and a lack of government spur employment and wealth, Texas would be overflowing with money and wealth, and have virtually no unemployment. In that event, we others would agree to let Texas take over the rest of the states, kick out all non-whites, imprison all poor people, and confiscate their property for immediate transfer to a Billionnaire Asset Acquisition Fund.
If not, and the experiment proved to no one's surprise to be a miserable and demoralizing failure, then the Texas secession would be declared permanent and all its citizens would be henceforth treated as illegal immigrants in the U.S.
Friday, July 22, 2011
Fox News Must Die
To sort of paraphrase Louis Farakkhan: Fox News must die in order for America to truly live.
Ask yourself this: How did the Republicans manage to change the terms of the debate, such that now apparently a majority of Americans think the debt crisis should be solved by a "combination of spending cuts and revenue increases," as the media keeps constantly reminding us?
Why do Republicans, like Grover Norquist, whose "I will never vote to raise taxes on Billionnaires" pledge the majority of Congressional Republicans have signed, keep telling us over and over again that lower taxes are the solution to the poor economy and the high rate of unemployment? Everybody with half a brain knows that not only is that not true, it is the exact opposite of the truth.
The Republicans had 8 consecutive years during the Bush Administration, when they controlled both houses of Congress, to prove the efficacy of that idea and they failed miserably, creating the economic collapse that we are in the midst of now. Even though we now have incontrovertible evidence that the Republican ideology of government is wrong, average Americans keep voting to allow Republicans to keep taking money away from average Americans and handing it over to America's wealthiest 400 "citizens," whose combined wealth exceeds that of half of the country.
Ask yourself this: How did the Republicans manage to change the terms of the debate, such that now apparently a majority of Americans think the debt crisis should be solved by a "combination of spending cuts and revenue increases," as the media keeps constantly reminding us?
Why do Republicans, like Grover Norquist, whose "I will never vote to raise taxes on Billionnaires" pledge the majority of Congressional Republicans have signed, keep telling us over and over again that lower taxes are the solution to the poor economy and the high rate of unemployment? Everybody with half a brain knows that not only is that not true, it is the exact opposite of the truth.
The Republicans had 8 consecutive years during the Bush Administration, when they controlled both houses of Congress, to prove the efficacy of that idea and they failed miserably, creating the economic collapse that we are in the midst of now. Even though we now have incontrovertible evidence that the Republican ideology of government is wrong, average Americans keep voting to allow Republicans to keep taking money away from average Americans and handing it over to America's wealthiest 400 "citizens," whose combined wealth exceeds that of half of the country.
How do Republicans, despite demonstrably having the worst ideas and the worst candidates for public office, get to keep dictating the terms of the debate in Congress?
The answer, of course, is Fox News.
For decades, Fox News has been poisoning the American air waves with its hate-filled rhetoric and outright lies. It's "red-blooded American" bullshit is just that, a cover for a truly profound and deep-seated hatred of America and American values.
But now, for the first time, there is just a shred of hope that Fox may get brought down. The Murdoch empire is sustaining painful hits in Britain. All it would take is one politician with a pair of balls, and even a tiny pair at that, to get the ball rolling (no pun intended) here. An investigation of Fox News would almost certainly produce even more dirt than that of News of the World. If there is anything other than high gas prices that can get Americans riled, the hacking of phone records of 9/11 victims must be it. I have no doubt that Fox News, which is already known to have done that, has done many other, equally reprehensible things.
Sunday, July 17, 2011
The Hypocritical Oath
Didn't Walt Whitman once say: "Do I contradict myself? Very well, I contradict myself. I am large. I contain multitudes." The Republicans seem to have taken Whitman to heart, more than they themselves realize. Of course, Whitman didn't exactly mean it the way that Republicans do. What Whitman meant was that the sophisticated mind is capable of simultaneously holding contradictory ideas and evaluating them. Republicans, though, lack that ability completely. For them, the concept that works is simply not holding any ideas in your mind for any length of time, so that when you say something that is the exact opposite of what you said earlier, there's no contradiction; you never said the previous thing. That's why hypocrisy, for a Republican, is the same as breathing for the rest of us.
In honor of Walt Whitman (one of my favorite poets, incidentally), I hereby propose the following pledge for all Republicans to take. As enthusiastic as they are about signing pledges (see today's NY Times), I have no doubt that Republicans will be knocking each other over to be first in line to sign my new pledge, called "The Hypocritic Oath:"
I (fill in name), a Republican, hereby do solemnly swear, pledge, promise, and vow, always and without fail to be a hypocrite. By this I mean that I will invariably practice in my own personal life the opposite of what I preach should be the behavior of others. For example, I will cheat on my pregnant wife with a member of my household staff while campaigning for "family values." In addition, I will vote against my own previous votes. For example, I will pass universal health care in my own state, then campaign against it for everyone else. As another example, I will author and vigorously promote a deficit-reduction plan but then oppose it with equal ferocity as soon as a Democratic president supports it. In short, I will faithfully and to the best of my ability speak and act like a hypocrite, all the time.
Now, there's a pledge that Republicans should be able to get behind.
In honor of Walt Whitman (one of my favorite poets, incidentally), I hereby propose the following pledge for all Republicans to take. As enthusiastic as they are about signing pledges (see today's NY Times), I have no doubt that Republicans will be knocking each other over to be first in line to sign my new pledge, called "The Hypocritic Oath:"
I (fill in name), a Republican, hereby do solemnly swear, pledge, promise, and vow, always and without fail to be a hypocrite. By this I mean that I will invariably practice in my own personal life the opposite of what I preach should be the behavior of others. For example, I will cheat on my pregnant wife with a member of my household staff while campaigning for "family values." In addition, I will vote against my own previous votes. For example, I will pass universal health care in my own state, then campaign against it for everyone else. As another example, I will author and vigorously promote a deficit-reduction plan but then oppose it with equal ferocity as soon as a Democratic president supports it. In short, I will faithfully and to the best of my ability speak and act like a hypocrite, all the time.
Now, there's a pledge that Republicans should be able to get behind.
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Playtime for Republicans
Does anybody know where Eric Cantor's bib and pacifier are?
It's definitely time to let the kiddies outside to play while the adults talk and make decisions. While Cantor is whining about how President Obama "stormed out" of their meeting on the deficit and the debt ceiling, the Republicans are still holding up any meaningful progress from being made and, for completely inexplicable reasons, Obama seems content to cede the majority of their absurd demands anyway.
What Obama should say to Eric Cantor and his infantile colleagues now is something long the lines of "This is a serious discussion, which means YOU stay out of it." The Republicans, with the exception of any who have previously demonstrated that they are capable of behaving like mature adults (are there any like that currently in office?), should be ushered into the playground with the door locked behind them until the issue has been resolved. Then, if they are really good, they should be allowed back in - with the stipulation that next time recess will be withheld for a month.
It's definitely time to let the kiddies outside to play while the adults talk and make decisions. While Cantor is whining about how President Obama "stormed out" of their meeting on the deficit and the debt ceiling, the Republicans are still holding up any meaningful progress from being made and, for completely inexplicable reasons, Obama seems content to cede the majority of their absurd demands anyway.
What Obama should say to Eric Cantor and his infantile colleagues now is something long the lines of "This is a serious discussion, which means YOU stay out of it." The Republicans, with the exception of any who have previously demonstrated that they are capable of behaving like mature adults (are there any like that currently in office?), should be ushered into the playground with the door locked behind them until the issue has been resolved. Then, if they are really good, they should be allowed back in - with the stipulation that next time recess will be withheld for a month.
Thursday, July 14, 2011
What to do about the Republicans
The target of today's rant (and that of the majority of them long into the future, I suspect) is everybody's favorite punching bag, Republicans.
Let's see: During the Bush administration, for 7 out of 8 years of which the entire government was under Republican control, the debt limit was raised 7 times. I can't recall a single time when any Republican raised any objections to that, or even talked about it at all. But back then, of course, the Republicans' slogan was "deficits don't matter," as they methodically drove it toward its current levels.
Since the Republicans have long since proven that the only thing they are good at is continually refining the definition of "hypocrisy," I hereby propose the following solution to deal with their annoying, insulting, and ultimately profoundly America-hating rhetoric:
All Republicans are required to immediately and fully abdicate any and all involvement in the U.S. government. They have recently bitched, loudly and belligerently, that the government is too big. To show just a bit of fidelity to their own values, all Republican politicians should immediately resign their posts and donate their entire salaries, benefits and all assets to a board representing America's major corporate giants, which will then distribute the proceeds from the sale of the aforementioned assets as they see fit, to America's wealthiest "citizens."
Any Republican "elected" official who refuses to participate in this entirely voluntary action should then be offered the option of either continuing to work for the government without pay for a minimum contracted 10 year period, or joining the military as uniformed servicemen/ women (also a minimum 10-year contract).
Let's see: During the Bush administration, for 7 out of 8 years of which the entire government was under Republican control, the debt limit was raised 7 times. I can't recall a single time when any Republican raised any objections to that, or even talked about it at all. But back then, of course, the Republicans' slogan was "deficits don't matter," as they methodically drove it toward its current levels.
Since the Republicans have long since proven that the only thing they are good at is continually refining the definition of "hypocrisy," I hereby propose the following solution to deal with their annoying, insulting, and ultimately profoundly America-hating rhetoric:
All Republicans are required to immediately and fully abdicate any and all involvement in the U.S. government. They have recently bitched, loudly and belligerently, that the government is too big. To show just a bit of fidelity to their own values, all Republican politicians should immediately resign their posts and donate their entire salaries, benefits and all assets to a board representing America's major corporate giants, which will then distribute the proceeds from the sale of the aforementioned assets as they see fit, to America's wealthiest "citizens."
Any Republican "elected" official who refuses to participate in this entirely voluntary action should then be offered the option of either continuing to work for the government without pay for a minimum contracted 10 year period, or joining the military as uniformed servicemen/ women (also a minimum 10-year contract).
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