by Rich Miles
You people are beginning to annoy me.
You claim things about the Bible that simply ARE. NOT. TRUE.
Jesus never said one word about homosexuals or same sex marriage. I already ranted on about that.
But - BUT - it seems some people need a little remedial explanation of what marriage is in the abstract.
Marriage IS mentioned in the Bible. Not sure what-all the book has to say about it, but it's mentioned. BUT...
It is NOT an institution of god. It is, purely and simply, a way to try and prove who the father of any individual baby is, so that inheritances may be determined more fairly and equitably. If a man could believe that his wife had sex only with him, then he could believe that her offspring is his child, and would feel better about leaving his entire estate to that (usually male) child. Never mind the bastards he fathered, and usually KNEW he fathered, never mind the daughters he needn't leave anything to.
Marriage is for that purpose and that purpose alone - to (try to) ensure that a woman stayed faithful to her husband.
Of course, we know now, as they knew then, that it didn't always work. Ever hear the expression "Her baby, his maybe"? No man EVER knows for certain who fathered his wife's baby. We can only trust. I'm fairly certain that my father really WAS my father, because we looked almost exactly alike. But I don't really know, now do I? Nothing against my mom, she was almost certainly faithful to my dad. But I don't really KNOW, do I?
And within the above definition, it doesn't matter that gay marrieds can't reproduce - in the traditional sense anyway. Lots of straights who marry can't have babies, or choose not to, or have miscarriages and never a live birth. Should we deny them the right to marry? Should reproductive status have anything to do with the question? I say no.
But in fine, marriage is a social construct, dressed up and tricked out as an institution of god. But it ain't really so.
I mention all this to try, probably futilely, to get the radical rightwing anti-gay marriage morons to get off their high horses, and shut up about same-sex marriage. I am farting in a whirlwind, but it's worth trying, I guess.
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
You are wrong! So just SHUT UP!!!
by Rich Miles
You're wrong, OK? Jesus never said ANYTHING about gay marriage, or homosexuals, or anything of the sort. NOTHING. Got it? And most especially not in the Book of Romans, as one self-righteous moron alleged earlier today.The full name of that book is, variously, St. Paul's Epistle to the Romans, or the Epistle of Paul to the Romans, or the Letter of Paul to the Romans. See? It says right there in your Bible that Paul wrote it - and a bit of critical reading will show that it was written after the Crucifixion - so Jesus could NOT have written it.
So as a sign I saw yesterday read, "As Jesus said about homosexuality and same sex marriage, " ". NOTHING. Not ONE WORD. So get over it. See the next post for the once and for all explanation of what marriage is.
You're wrong, OK? Jesus never said ANYTHING about gay marriage, or homosexuals, or anything of the sort. NOTHING. Got it? And most especially not in the Book of Romans, as one self-righteous moron alleged earlier today.The full name of that book is, variously, St. Paul's Epistle to the Romans, or the Epistle of Paul to the Romans, or the Letter of Paul to the Romans. See? It says right there in your Bible that Paul wrote it - and a bit of critical reading will show that it was written after the Crucifixion - so Jesus could NOT have written it.
So as a sign I saw yesterday read, "As Jesus said about homosexuality and same sex marriage, " ". NOTHING. Not ONE WORD. So get over it. See the next post for the once and for all explanation of what marriage is.
Saturday, March 23, 2013
Why Liberals and Atheists are Smarter
by Rich Miles
Would you like to know why liberals and atheists are more intelligent than conservative religionists ? Or perhaps more accurately, why intelligent people tend to become liberals and atheists?
Read this article by internationally renowned evolutionary psychologist Satoshi Kanazawa.
He pretty well demonstrates that, the higher the level of intelligence in a person, mostly men, the more likely that person is to be a liberal, an atheist, or both. I can't explain why it's not as often so in women, but that's what he maintains.
It's from a respected professional journal, and it's a little dry in spots. But if you have ever wondered why this appears to be so, this article will help to clear up the mystery. I will be surprised if even one conservative Christian reads this.
Please comment. But keep it clean and respectable, or I'll delete you.
Would you like to know why liberals and atheists are more intelligent than conservative religionists ? Or perhaps more accurately, why intelligent people tend to become liberals and atheists?
Read this article by internationally renowned evolutionary psychologist Satoshi Kanazawa.
He pretty well demonstrates that, the higher the level of intelligence in a person, mostly men, the more likely that person is to be a liberal, an atheist, or both. I can't explain why it's not as often so in women, but that's what he maintains.
It's from a respected professional journal, and it's a little dry in spots. But if you have ever wondered why this appears to be so, this article will help to clear up the mystery. I will be surprised if even one conservative Christian reads this.
Please comment. But keep it clean and respectable, or I'll delete you.
17 Reasons Why I can't support McConnell
by Rich Miles
Just want you to see this - it's a comment at the bottom of an article on Daily Kos called:
17 Reasons Why I Can't Support Senator Mitch McConnell's 2014 Re-Election Bid
To wit:
* [new] McConnell serves money... (3+ / 0-)
Just want you to see this - it's a comment at the bottom of an article on Daily Kos called:
17 Reasons Why I Can't Support Senator Mitch McConnell's 2014 Re-Election Bid
To wit:
* [new] McConnell serves money... (3+ / 0-)
...not the people of Kentucky or this country. McConnell has always
craved power, and money is the means to his power: money he provides to
others through legislation and money they provide back to him. I have
never understood why so many in Kentucky willingly sacrifice their
economic security for the leader of the party that wants to end
medicare, gut social security, reduce unemployment insurance, eliminate
workplace safety regulations, gut public education, and push wages and
benefits of average people to where they are "competitive" with the
cheapest source of foreign labor in the undeveloped world. I appreciate
the facts you provide, but, as you know, facts don't matter to most
people here. They believe what they believe, and they only believe what
they hear from Rush, Fox, or their preacher/politician.
Some little bit of truth among the lies
by Rich Miles
One of the downsides of the Internet is that it's just so gol-darned big, you know? A group of 100,000 people could spend 12 hours a day reading articles and gleaning info, and in 40 years, could not get 1/10000 of it read, much less committed to memory.
The second sentence of the above paragraph is totally made up. I have no idea if it's true - but it seems plausible. It could be true. There's no way to check the figures, though.
And that is how the Republican misinformation machine works - they give us stuff that seems like it could be true, and then they dare us to prove them wrong. Most people, in fact almost everyone, fails to do so. And a certain percentage of the blithering idiots among us actually believe the crap completely uncritically. And I am getting tired of it. I am getting sick of my future, and that of my country, being decided by morons who are not only ignorant, but actively proud of their ignorance!
Well, I can't fight the millions of such mental dung beetles all by myself, but I can occasionally offer something a bit more concrete and provable, and that's what I am doing today. From the Fiscal Times, a more reasoned and well-presented analysis of an issue in which we all, or almost all, should have an interest:
From The Fiscal Times:
Why Government Spending Is Not Out of Control
And last but not etc., there are articles all over Hell that are still conflating Social Security spending and federal deficits. For the umpteenth time, Social Security does not add ONE THIN DIME to the federal deficit. In fact, because of the way politicians have been stealing from it for decades, it actually functions to reduce the deficit, just like the USPS. But only by a small amount.
See, what the Republicans want is not to reduce deficits, but to starve poor people to death. Whatever deficit reduction may be had is going to go to cronies and campaign contributors anyway.
Read the article. Please.
One of the downsides of the Internet is that it's just so gol-darned big, you know? A group of 100,000 people could spend 12 hours a day reading articles and gleaning info, and in 40 years, could not get 1/10000 of it read, much less committed to memory.
The second sentence of the above paragraph is totally made up. I have no idea if it's true - but it seems plausible. It could be true. There's no way to check the figures, though.
And that is how the Republican misinformation machine works - they give us stuff that seems like it could be true, and then they dare us to prove them wrong. Most people, in fact almost everyone, fails to do so. And a certain percentage of the blithering idiots among us actually believe the crap completely uncritically. And I am getting tired of it. I am getting sick of my future, and that of my country, being decided by morons who are not only ignorant, but actively proud of their ignorance!
Well, I can't fight the millions of such mental dung beetles all by myself, but I can occasionally offer something a bit more concrete and provable, and that's what I am doing today. From the Fiscal Times, a more reasoned and well-presented analysis of an issue in which we all, or almost all, should have an interest:
From The Fiscal Times:
Why Government Spending Is Not Out of Control
And last but not etc., there are articles all over Hell that are still conflating Social Security spending and federal deficits. For the umpteenth time, Social Security does not add ONE THIN DIME to the federal deficit. In fact, because of the way politicians have been stealing from it for decades, it actually functions to reduce the deficit, just like the USPS. But only by a small amount.
See, what the Republicans want is not to reduce deficits, but to starve poor people to death. Whatever deficit reduction may be had is going to go to cronies and campaign contributors anyway.
Read the article. Please.
Sunday, March 17, 2013
Paul Ryan is not paying attention - nor are his partymates
Update: Another example of the premise of this piece was reported last night: Karl Rove and Sarah Palin are currently having a contretemps. Palin accuses Rove of being a rotten political consultant, with most if not all of his premier candidates getting creamed in November 2012; and Rove mocks Palin's brief term (only two years) as governor of Alaska. Read about it here. Can you imagine this happening 7 or 8 years ago?
Also, as much as I enjoy having commenters here, and don't wish to piss them off, the one comment that is here as of 3/18/13, which is actually from a friend of mine, is just wrong. It's not just my opinion that this is happening. I'm not just following the opinions of others of my political bent. It is really happening.How far it will go remains to be seen, but it's definitely happening. It's my opinion that it is happening BECAUSE the Republicans are losing so much lately - they're losing and it's making them testy. Please proceed:
by Rich Miles
OK, one point that has to be made: no matter how much one may dislike this little pencil-neck geek Paul Ryan and his budget plans, he is chair of the House Budget Committee. He's supposed to produce budget proposals. He's just not supposed to do it this badly.
Now - we are in an interesting historical era right now. We are, or can be, witness to the death of a political philosophy, where the owners of that philosophy are too blind/stupid/arrogant/pick one or more to note that the death of the way of thought is happening.
If you read carefully, in every single news source you can stand, you will see undeniable evidence that the Republican Party is falling apart. They are off-message, they are disagreeing with each other, they are calling other factions names, they are failing to see the handwriting on the wall that tells them (or would if they paid attention) that Americans no longer think the way they did, no longer fall into lockstep with the fascistic ideology that they once did.
I don't say there are NO more Republican believers - it's just that there are far fewer of them than there were in the Bush interregnum. If I live to be 150, I will never understand how America was so hoodwinked by Bush the Younger, but it seems that it's now over, recovery has well and truly begun, and we can only hope it's true. We will have to deal with the Republicans a while longer - but I believe it's possible that in 20 years or less, there will be NO Republican party as we know it today, and quite likely its offshoot the Tea Party will have disappeared as well.
Read your news well - you will likely see this phenomenon as well. If so, I hope you'll come here and report it as you see it.
Y'see, those who tend to gravitate to thought lines like the Repugs have espoused since at least 1980* and likely well before, do not function well when no one is telling them what to think, say and do. They are either controllers, or ones who need to be controlled. So any measure of confusion in the ranks, especially as much as is evident now, just knocks the troops in a cocked hat and leaves them wandering about like the robots in Woody Allen's "Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex...".
*Actually, 1968 would probably be more accurate.
That's my opinion. That's what I'm seeing. Take a look and see if perhaps you don't see the same.
Also, as much as I enjoy having commenters here, and don't wish to piss them off, the one comment that is here as of 3/18/13, which is actually from a friend of mine, is just wrong. It's not just my opinion that this is happening. I'm not just following the opinions of others of my political bent. It is really happening.How far it will go remains to be seen, but it's definitely happening. It's my opinion that it is happening BECAUSE the Republicans are losing so much lately - they're losing and it's making them testy. Please proceed:
by Rich Miles
OK, one point that has to be made: no matter how much one may dislike this little pencil-neck geek Paul Ryan and his budget plans, he is chair of the House Budget Committee. He's supposed to produce budget proposals. He's just not supposed to do it this badly.
Now - we are in an interesting historical era right now. We are, or can be, witness to the death of a political philosophy, where the owners of that philosophy are too blind/stupid/arrogant/pick one or more to note that the death of the way of thought is happening.
If you read carefully, in every single news source you can stand, you will see undeniable evidence that the Republican Party is falling apart. They are off-message, they are disagreeing with each other, they are calling other factions names, they are failing to see the handwriting on the wall that tells them (or would if they paid attention) that Americans no longer think the way they did, no longer fall into lockstep with the fascistic ideology that they once did.
I don't say there are NO more Republican believers - it's just that there are far fewer of them than there were in the Bush interregnum. If I live to be 150, I will never understand how America was so hoodwinked by Bush the Younger, but it seems that it's now over, recovery has well and truly begun, and we can only hope it's true. We will have to deal with the Republicans a while longer - but I believe it's possible that in 20 years or less, there will be NO Republican party as we know it today, and quite likely its offshoot the Tea Party will have disappeared as well.
Read your news well - you will likely see this phenomenon as well. If so, I hope you'll come here and report it as you see it.
Y'see, those who tend to gravitate to thought lines like the Repugs have espoused since at least 1980* and likely well before, do not function well when no one is telling them what to think, say and do. They are either controllers, or ones who need to be controlled. So any measure of confusion in the ranks, especially as much as is evident now, just knocks the troops in a cocked hat and leaves them wandering about like the robots in Woody Allen's "Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex...".
*Actually, 1968 would probably be more accurate.
That's my opinion. That's what I'm seeing. Take a look and see if perhaps you don't see the same.
Monday, March 11, 2013
This is beginning to keep me awake nights...
by Rich Miles
Look, folks, if the events of the past 14 years or so have taught me nothing else, they have shown me unequivocally how STOOOPID the American people can be.
Not you, of course, but all those OTHERS!
But it is looking almost definite that the Repugs are going to try to run Jeb Bush for preznit in 2012. His name and image have shown up in numerous places after a long silence, and he is making observations on things that would only be of interest to a presidential candidate.
I am willing to work VERY hard to keep this from happening, keep him from winning. But if there is one statement that proves that Jeb Bush is too addled to be president, it is this one:
During a tour of Sunday morning talk shows, Jeb Bush said, "No, I don't think there's any Bush baggage at all."
(Now see, the correct answer to this is, "Well sure, there is for Democrats, but most of them won't vote for me anyway.")
Do we want, can we afford, a man who is that deluded in our highest office? Work hard to keep this from happening. It could finally mean the end of America. Didn't Little Bro almost put us away from 2001-2009? If they start marketing Jeb as "the smarter Bush brother" or "the compassionate Bush brother", or words to that effect, they are aiming him at the White House. And the irony of 41-43-45 is just too much for me to stand. You?
AND if he starts making war noises even before he gets in, then that is a certainty. The Repugs have learned the lesson of how hard it is to lose an election for Prez if there is a war on. Shrub showed 'em.
You know, most of what I said about GWB turned out to be true - go back in this blog to about 2000, 2001 and check. That is not observed to make me look like a smart guy, but merely to point out that, if I was right before, I might be right again.
It's tough being Cassandra.
Look, folks, if the events of the past 14 years or so have taught me nothing else, they have shown me unequivocally how STOOOPID the American people can be.
Not you, of course, but all those OTHERS!
But it is looking almost definite that the Repugs are going to try to run Jeb Bush for preznit in 2012. His name and image have shown up in numerous places after a long silence, and he is making observations on things that would only be of interest to a presidential candidate.
I am willing to work VERY hard to keep this from happening, keep him from winning. But if there is one statement that proves that Jeb Bush is too addled to be president, it is this one:
During a tour of Sunday morning talk shows, Jeb Bush said, "No, I don't think there's any Bush baggage at all."
(Now see, the correct answer to this is, "Well sure, there is for Democrats, but most of them won't vote for me anyway.")
Do we want, can we afford, a man who is that deluded in our highest office? Work hard to keep this from happening. It could finally mean the end of America. Didn't Little Bro almost put us away from 2001-2009? If they start marketing Jeb as "the smarter Bush brother" or "the compassionate Bush brother", or words to that effect, they are aiming him at the White House. And the irony of 41-43-45 is just too much for me to stand. You?
AND if he starts making war noises even before he gets in, then that is a certainty. The Repugs have learned the lesson of how hard it is to lose an election for Prez if there is a war on. Shrub showed 'em.
You know, most of what I said about GWB turned out to be true - go back in this blog to about 2000, 2001 and check. That is not observed to make me look like a smart guy, but merely to point out that, if I was right before, I might be right again.
It's tough being Cassandra.
Wednesday, March 06, 2013
Somehow, this will turn out to be Obama's fault
by Rich Miles
This sequester thing is just total bullshit. I mean, just totally! First off, it only cuts off about $80-85 billion, which is an infinitesimal percentage of the multi-trillion-dollar federal bloat, er, budget.
And secondly, the things that are being cut are (quite purposely, I believe) things that will inconvenience the most individual Americans. Things that will cause the most pain.
But as stated in the following article, at least we know now who has been responsible: the Koch Bros. That's right, the people who tried, and almost succeeded, to buy the US presidential election last year. One would think that after pouring that much money into the election and losing, they would stop pouring, but apparently not. They are apparently compulsive gamblers, who cannot stop playing no matter how much they lose.
Can there any longer be any doubt that to Republicans, their money is more important than the wellbeing of average Americans? I don't think it would be too farfetched to say that they (Republicans) want all of the poor people (poorer than them, anyway) simply to die so they no longer have to be taken care of. This article certainly speaks to that idea:
So anyway, take a look - straight from the horses' mouths (text bolding and underscoring mine - italics from the author):
One of, but not limited to, the symptoms of depression is a feeling of hopelessness that can be exacerbated by unrelenting bad news, and for the past two weeks, Americans were bombarded with portents of doom and gloom over the Republican sequester. On Sunday, there was a glimmer of good news in the form of a reminder Willard Romney is not the president, and although he said it “kills him” he cannot “boss people around,” he is still alive enough to run his lying mouth about the President and how he handled the sequester. Now that the sequester is signed into law, as bad as it is, Romney preferred Paul Ryan’s budget that was four times as damaging as the sequester and increased the deficit by at least $4 trillion. One of Willard’s biggest supporters is cheering the sequester and claiming credit for its enactment, and looks forward to imposing more economic hardship on the people and the nation in their never-ending assault on government.
In an email, Koch brothers’ front group, Americans for Prosperity (AFP), sent congratulations to Republicans and their supporters around the country for helping push sequester cuts AFP says are “an important step forward for economic growth.” The email continued, “Americans for Prosperity thanks Speaker John Boehner and House Republicans for standing up to President Obama and making sure the $85 billion in much-needed sequester spending cuts took effect,” and it proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that the Koch brothers and Republicans own the sequester and are giddy at the prospect of a recession and killing millions of jobs. One aspect of sequester cuts little mentioned is that the devastating $85 billion for 2013 is just the beginning of greater domestic spending cuts, devastating effects on anti-poverty programs, Medicare, and without cessation, the end of recovery.
The sequester is a ten year plan that cuts $1.2 trillion across the board, and because they began in March, $85 billion is about 70% of the next nine years of cuts coming in at about $123.88 billion every year. It spells the end of recovery because experts estimate that by the end of 2013, $85 billion in cuts means nearly a million jobs will vanish, and GDP will fall between .7% and 1.7% in the first year alone. Kochs, AFP, teabaggers, and Republicans are celebrating austerity that deliberately tanks the economy, creates massive poverty, and all to avoid closing tax loopholes for the richest people in America. Republicans claimed 2013 sequester cuts would devastate the economy, and yet they are celebrating nine more years of 30% higher cuts, and are a reminder of the damage Willard Romney would have imposed. Romney took time to weigh in on the sequester and accuse the President of campaigning instead of working with Republicans to avert the cuts they were destined to enact.
According to Willard, “The president brings people together, does the deals, does the trades…the president leads, and I don’t see that kind of leadership happening. He’s campaigning.” Romney also suspected President Obama blamed Republicans for rejecting attempts to avert the sequester because “there may be more interest in showing pain in saying, See what the other guys did?” President Obama did attempt to trade, deal, lead, and bring Republicans together, but the sequester was the means Republicans used to impose austerity, and unless Obama agreed to void defense cuts and replace them with more austerity and domestic cuts, the sequester was going forward as part of Republicans’ four-year war on the economy.
Real economic experts cited ways Republicans are deliberately killing recovery; self-inflicted austerity, cuts to under-funded social programs, cut Social Security and Medicare benefits by slashing “entitlements,” and the sequester. Republicans and their supporters at Americans for Prosperity encouraged their base to campaign to “keep the cuts” so we can “get our economy moving again” in spite of overwhelming evidence that killing a million jobs and slashing domestic spending will cut GDP between .7-1.7% in the first year of a ten year program. Austerity already cost a reduction in growth in the fourth quarter, and combined with the Eurozone’s austerity-caused recession increases the risk to America’s economy because Europe is the nation’s leading trading partner. Austerity is decimating economies all over the world and all the while, Republicans, Koch brothers, and teabaggers are celebrating.
Americans for Prosperity parroted a right-wing canard that America has a spending crisis and said, “For the first time in a long time, genuine substantive spending reductions actually took effect and the government is running just a bit leaner,” and it belies President Obama’s reduced spending that already cost a reduction in GDP in the last quarter of 2012. America cannot recover, much less thrive, with perpetual spending cuts that kill jobs and retard growth, but that has been the Republican plan all along. It is unfortunate that Republicans were successful creating a false deficit crisis because it has ensnared Democrats who cannot speak about the economy without first trumpeting the virtue of “reducing the deficit” and it will lead the nation into a downward economic spiral that no-one, not even the President, can prevent regardless the people’s overwhelming support for his storied “balanced approach” to…deficit reduction.
Republicans won the austerity battle, and Americans will now know what it feels like to live in “socialist Europe” that imposed austerity, massive unemployment, negative growth, double and triple-dip recessions, and no hope for recovery anytime soon. Maybe there were two bits of good news yesterday after all; Willard is not president, and sequester damage in 2013 will be the least for the next ten years. Because if $85 billion is devastating, kills a million jobs, and cuts GDP by a percentage point, then nine years of $123.88 billion each will certainly eviscerate the economy; it was Republicans’ plan all along. It is just tragic, though, that they imposed austerity by injecting two words into every discussion about the economy; deficit reduction. It’s no wonder teabaggers, Republicans, and Americans for Prosperity are celebrating and congratulating each other; they won with two words.
This sequester thing is just total bullshit. I mean, just totally! First off, it only cuts off about $80-85 billion, which is an infinitesimal percentage of the multi-trillion-dollar federal bloat, er, budget.
And secondly, the things that are being cut are (quite purposely, I believe) things that will inconvenience the most individual Americans. Things that will cause the most pain.
But as stated in the following article, at least we know now who has been responsible: the Koch Bros. That's right, the people who tried, and almost succeeded, to buy the US presidential election last year. One would think that after pouring that much money into the election and losing, they would stop pouring, but apparently not. They are apparently compulsive gamblers, who cannot stop playing no matter how much they lose.
Can there any longer be any doubt that to Republicans, their money is more important than the wellbeing of average Americans? I don't think it would be too farfetched to say that they (Republicans) want all of the poor people (poorer than them, anyway) simply to die so they no longer have to be taken care of. This article certainly speaks to that idea:
So anyway, take a look - straight from the horses' mouths (text bolding and underscoring mine - italics from the author):
The Koch Brothers Take Credit for Imposing Economic Hardship on Millions of Americans
One of, but not limited to, the symptoms of depression is a feeling of hopelessness that can be exacerbated by unrelenting bad news, and for the past two weeks, Americans were bombarded with portents of doom and gloom over the Republican sequester. On Sunday, there was a glimmer of good news in the form of a reminder Willard Romney is not the president, and although he said it “kills him” he cannot “boss people around,” he is still alive enough to run his lying mouth about the President and how he handled the sequester. Now that the sequester is signed into law, as bad as it is, Romney preferred Paul Ryan’s budget that was four times as damaging as the sequester and increased the deficit by at least $4 trillion. One of Willard’s biggest supporters is cheering the sequester and claiming credit for its enactment, and looks forward to imposing more economic hardship on the people and the nation in their never-ending assault on government.
In an email, Koch brothers’ front group, Americans for Prosperity (AFP), sent congratulations to Republicans and their supporters around the country for helping push sequester cuts AFP says are “an important step forward for economic growth.” The email continued, “Americans for Prosperity thanks Speaker John Boehner and House Republicans for standing up to President Obama and making sure the $85 billion in much-needed sequester spending cuts took effect,” and it proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that the Koch brothers and Republicans own the sequester and are giddy at the prospect of a recession and killing millions of jobs. One aspect of sequester cuts little mentioned is that the devastating $85 billion for 2013 is just the beginning of greater domestic spending cuts, devastating effects on anti-poverty programs, Medicare, and without cessation, the end of recovery.
The sequester is a ten year plan that cuts $1.2 trillion across the board, and because they began in March, $85 billion is about 70% of the next nine years of cuts coming in at about $123.88 billion every year. It spells the end of recovery because experts estimate that by the end of 2013, $85 billion in cuts means nearly a million jobs will vanish, and GDP will fall between .7% and 1.7% in the first year alone. Kochs, AFP, teabaggers, and Republicans are celebrating austerity that deliberately tanks the economy, creates massive poverty, and all to avoid closing tax loopholes for the richest people in America. Republicans claimed 2013 sequester cuts would devastate the economy, and yet they are celebrating nine more years of 30% higher cuts, and are a reminder of the damage Willard Romney would have imposed. Romney took time to weigh in on the sequester and accuse the President of campaigning instead of working with Republicans to avert the cuts they were destined to enact.
According to Willard, “The president brings people together, does the deals, does the trades…the president leads, and I don’t see that kind of leadership happening. He’s campaigning.” Romney also suspected President Obama blamed Republicans for rejecting attempts to avert the sequester because “there may be more interest in showing pain in saying, See what the other guys did?” President Obama did attempt to trade, deal, lead, and bring Republicans together, but the sequester was the means Republicans used to impose austerity, and unless Obama agreed to void defense cuts and replace them with more austerity and domestic cuts, the sequester was going forward as part of Republicans’ four-year war on the economy.
Real economic experts cited ways Republicans are deliberately killing recovery; self-inflicted austerity, cuts to under-funded social programs, cut Social Security and Medicare benefits by slashing “entitlements,” and the sequester. Republicans and their supporters at Americans for Prosperity encouraged their base to campaign to “keep the cuts” so we can “get our economy moving again” in spite of overwhelming evidence that killing a million jobs and slashing domestic spending will cut GDP between .7-1.7% in the first year of a ten year program. Austerity already cost a reduction in growth in the fourth quarter, and combined with the Eurozone’s austerity-caused recession increases the risk to America’s economy because Europe is the nation’s leading trading partner. Austerity is decimating economies all over the world and all the while, Republicans, Koch brothers, and teabaggers are celebrating.
Americans for Prosperity parroted a right-wing canard that America has a spending crisis and said, “For the first time in a long time, genuine substantive spending reductions actually took effect and the government is running just a bit leaner,” and it belies President Obama’s reduced spending that already cost a reduction in GDP in the last quarter of 2012. America cannot recover, much less thrive, with perpetual spending cuts that kill jobs and retard growth, but that has been the Republican plan all along. It is unfortunate that Republicans were successful creating a false deficit crisis because it has ensnared Democrats who cannot speak about the economy without first trumpeting the virtue of “reducing the deficit” and it will lead the nation into a downward economic spiral that no-one, not even the President, can prevent regardless the people’s overwhelming support for his storied “balanced approach” to…deficit reduction.
Republicans won the austerity battle, and Americans will now know what it feels like to live in “socialist Europe” that imposed austerity, massive unemployment, negative growth, double and triple-dip recessions, and no hope for recovery anytime soon. Maybe there were two bits of good news yesterday after all; Willard is not president, and sequester damage in 2013 will be the least for the next ten years. Because if $85 billion is devastating, kills a million jobs, and cuts GDP by a percentage point, then nine years of $123.88 billion each will certainly eviscerate the economy; it was Republicans’ plan all along. It is just tragic, though, that they imposed austerity by injecting two words into every discussion about the economy; deficit reduction. It’s no wonder teabaggers, Republicans, and Americans for Prosperity are celebrating and congratulating each other; they won with two words.
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