I have been blissfully immersed in the world of milk delivery and weight lifting for a while. Well, maybe not blissfully, but you know... Things have been quite busy at work. I've been hammering away at the gym. I've been trying to visit my old buddy in the nursing home. The days just seem to fly by. When you have a short attention span, as I clearly have, this isn't really a bad thing.
Anyhow, I was filing through my usual barrage of e-mails and catching up on things tonight. I came across a video clip of The One™. He and I won't ever be guest speakers at the same political convention, obviously, but I do at least make an effort to treat whatever he says with an open mind. He is the leader of my country and my political party, after all. So today's message was that a compromise had been reached with respect to the impending tax hikes. Well that's nice. Nobody likes a tax hike.
As I watched the video clip though, I was left scratching my head. There's something seriously wrong with this guy. (Don't take my word for it. Check out the Huffington Post or one of those other leftist sites.)
For starters, the rationale behind the urgent need for a compromise was what? The middle class can't afford a tax hike, right? Yeah, okay, I understand that part. But then why in the hell is The One™ pointing out that the Bushitler's tax cuts actually saved $3,000 a year for the average American family? If I'm gonna be a Democrat, then my party is gonna have to learn to stay on message. Bush only cut taxes for greedy billionaires! That $8 a week that we got from the stimulus bill was the only real middle class tax cut!
See, I can still say it, even if it is bullshit. My new party never, ever, mentioned the middle class tax cuts over the last several years. Why? Because it didn't suit the narrative. The asset bubble that came crashing down in 2007-08 was a bipartisan clusterfuck of epic proportions, but the economy actually did recover from a couple of recessions after those tax cuts. Nobody needed to know that sort of thing though. We were on message, by golly. Tax cuts for billionaires screwed us all while Republicans drank Slurpees, or whatever. Now this president is going to give in and say that Bush was right? Screw that.
Then there's the subject of negotiating strategy. What the fuck, Barack? I mean, seriously. You have been saying that we can't afford the tax cuts for upper-income people. The $3 trillion for the middle class is all good but the $0.7 trillion for the fat cats will explode the deficit. You know, beyond the tripling of the deficit that you've already done. We clearly can't afford such a thing, you said. I was skeptical of your numbers, but my monthly Teamsters magazine says you're pretty awesome, so I was willing to play along. Then, in order to get you to go along with an unaffordable tax cut, those dastardly Republicans had to give you... even more unaffordable tax cuts (and a little extra spending, just for kicks)? What the fuck, Barack? How do you expect to have people take you seriously? Or does it even matter at this point?
At least you got that extension of unemployment benefits though. Good work there. I mean, surely the Republicans aren't a bunch of spineless cowards who stand for nothing and would have given in on that topic once the opinion polls showed them losing ground in Michigan and Ohio. No, you read them correctly, I'm sure. Jackass. The Republican political establishment stands for nothing. When they think the public wants a prescription drug entitlement that we can't afford, they're "compassionate conservatives." Then, when a bunch of raaaacist hayseeds from flyover country are pretty pissed about runaway government spending, they're suddenly all "tea party conservatives." These guys are pussies. They would have extended unemployment benefits sooner or later, with or without a tax cut deal. Jackass.
Obviously though, I've been unfair up to this point. I must acknowledge that you stood your ground on the topic of permanent tax cuts. Clearly we can't allow those bloodsucking business owners who sign our paychecks to have a permanent tax break, so you held firm. Good job, Barack. The only permanent tax breaks will be those for the middle class. Wait a second... wat? It's all temporary? None of it is permanent? Just two years, seriously? We get to have this damned debate again the next time all of you sons of bitches are up for re-election?
It is amazing. After just a few months of being a rust belt teamster you see the world in a whole new light. With a few more unemployment checks all those folks will be ready to open up businesses and employ the Michiganders to the fullest.
ReplyDeleteYou've already heard that nutjob Pelosi say that unemployment checks are the best stimulus in the world. She's completely unaware that a borrowed dollar today equals a dollar (plus interest) in lost GDP at some future time. Absolutely clueless.
ReplyDeleteYou just wait and see. The day will come when one of these goofball Democrats calls for permanent unemployment benefits. I'm not even kidding.
Now this is the kind of stuff I would expect from a past republican Con-way driving , Keynesian conspiracy theorist.....Where you been? You actually made the switch to the other side...WOW....You get yourself in shape and get pretty again and you might make something out of yourself yet.....I think they are all lost...Some of our politicos want Inflation so they can beef up their net worth....Us smalltimers just worry about the price of bread and a gallon of fuel....Personally I got a kick out of what was going on in England when the students surrounded the Princes car and started yelling " Off with his Head"...thats really what we need is a good ole bloody revolution...The powers to be are way to blatant with their corrupt dealings...Time to remind them just who is in charge around here..Instead of studying Keynesian theory we should all be reading the "Rise and fall of the Roman Empire"...because that is the path we are on.....Enjoy your posts don't read as often as I used too....Still OTR...miles are good...but you know the CON-way....Milk- does a body good
ReplyDeleteMake something out of myself? Let's recap. I became a Democrat in the summer. By the end of the year, we've got The One™ sounding like Milton Friedman. You underestimate how influential I am.
ReplyDeleteAnd make no mistake about it. These jagoffs have no concept about Keynes' recommended approach, misguided as it may have been. Instead of a cycle of stimulating to break recessions and then paying down debt during recoveries, we just pissed $800 billion away on special interest payoffs with no feasible way to atone for the debt in coming years. I don't agree with Keynes but these guys are giving him an unfairly bad name.
Good to hear that the Missouri gang are keeping you moving. I'm about ready to cry 'uncle' myself. Just worn out. Apparently the milk business slows down a little after the holidays though. I'm looking forward to some smaller paychecks (and the workload that comes with them).
Stay down south for a while if you get the chance. It's bitterly cold up here.
Here is a thought about Inflation for you...Printing massive amounts of money should cause massive inflation according to economic models...but could a huge surge in population balance out any potential Inflation??? You know dilution of the wealth....a small minority hold onto a certain percentage of the wealth while the rest is dispursed throughout an increasing population...from what I have seen we are definatly experiencing a rapid growth in population....I also happen to be a believer in the Fibonacci Sequence when applied to population growth....Don't hear much talk about this application of theory but it seems a reality......Am in Laredo...wouldnt mind running Texas freight for a few months...staying out of that north country...Shapping up to be a rough winter weather wise....
ReplyDeleteThese cats don't think there'll be an inflation issue.
ReplyDeleteFrankly, neither do I. (Not in the near term, at least. Long term there's no other way out of our debt, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.) But if inflation fears get people to put pressure on Bernanke and convince him to stop screwing around, I don't have any problem playing along.
Can't say I buy into Fibonacci vis a vis population. As a population advances, it tends to get wealthier and healthier. (Neat video on that topic, incidentally.) Wealthier and healthier populations tend to have lower fertility rates. No need for ten kids to support Mom and Dad when there's Social Security. No need to get knocked up accidentally a bunch of times when there's cheap birth control at the local welfare clinic. If we follow in the path of Europe, as we've done in every other case, we'll probably need those pesky Mexicans just to keep us functioning in fifty years.
I think the mitigating factor right now, rather than a growing population dispersing the money supply, is that banks are soaking it up and keeping it from chasing goods. Probably not that far off from what you're saying about the small minority holding onto the wealth. Where we most likely diverge is in my view that the government is making them do so.