Looks like we all drive with Boehner. And perhaps swim with Aqua Buddha.
Okay, so… here’s the irony of this mid-term election. Admittedly Obama isn’t the most “outside of the box” thinker imaginable, but when he came into office two years ago, he had a relatively ambitious agenda that included a major stimulus package. The original version included infrastructure spending that would have put some fuel into this sluggish recovery. The Republicans had decided, of course, to vote no on everything, including cloture for all Senate bills, making the bar for passage of anything more than sixty votes. The stimulus got watered down with tax cuts – 30% or so was tax cuts – to bring along people like Arlen Specter, who was a Republican then.
Of course, that spending package worked by all measures… but only so well, as tax cuts have always been a pretty poor method for stimulating the economy. The G.O.P. then tag the dems with the “failed stimulus”, even though its lack of broader effectiveness was largely due to their stonewalling. Now the voters, in their understandable anger at this failure, have put the Dems out and, by extension, House Republicans back in charge, so any correction of this is extremely unlikely. So… it looks like we’re headed for Japan in the 1990s – a zombie economy, staggering along for the next decade, suffering from our unwillingness to take bold action. The deficit hawks have gained the upper hand for the nonce, and that is not good news for the rest of us.
Not that the G.O.P. House will seriously move to cut the deficit. As of yet, they have been unable to name even a few billion dollars worth of cuts they would be willing to make. Not to mention the fact that they seem determined to continue boring the hole through the treasury that Bush started with his tax cuts for the rich and famous. If they do that and succeed in repealing the health care legislation, we’re effectively talking about another $1.7 trillion in debt added on to what they claim is a staggering total already. Does that sound serious to you? Perhaps they’ll try to resurrect Dubya’s Social Security privatization plan to underwrite such largesse to the wealthy. (Since their successful House campaigns were floated by post-Citizens United corporate cash, I wouldn’t be a bit surprised.)
Here’s my suggestion, Mr. President. Take that $700 billion tax cut they want to give to the wealthy and propose adding it to the cuts for the bottom 97%. Let them vote against that one.
luv u,
jp
It would be no surprise to anyone who reads this blog that I have voted for (and even volunteered for) Michael Arcuri (D-NY) in the past. That is not because of any deep or enduring loyalty towards the candidate; again, I vote strategically. His election means one less vote for Boehner and the crew. (Remember: When you stay home, you ride with Boehner). But I have to say, his ads are as childish as those of his opponent. In fact, some of them seem calculated to alienate the most hard-core of Democratic party constituencies – those traditional left anti-war folks who hold their noses every two years to vote for the lesser of two evils. Arcuri’s got an ad out accusing his opponent of supporting a group that will “cut defense spending in half”. Like that would be a bad thing.
Point two: Corporate cash. It likely has not escaped your attention that corporate interests – spearheaded by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce – are pouring money into this election like never before. Newly empowered by the Supreme Court’s execrable Citizens United decision, non-party groups are performing as cutouts for the financial industry, the energy sector, manufacturing, you name it. Karl Rove’s groups alone have raised more than $50 million and are now shooting for $65 million; the Chamber something like $75 million. They see an opportunity to bag this election, and they’re willing to spend the coin to make it happen.