Krugman's Konundrum

I went to a meeting hosted by a firm that specializes in helping sell other companies.  The presentation was surprisingly good and informative.  And, I was not surprised or discomforted that 1/3 of the presentation was a sales pitch for the company that hosted the event. The talk was free; I went in assuming they were looking for new clients.  

No.  I was bothered by the right-wing snippets included in the presentation.  Accepted-as-gospel fallacies about economics, finance, and recent history.  For example, did you know that social security is broke?  The so-called "lock box" is filled by $70 trillion in IOUs.  The US is printing lots of money, and that is debasing our currency.  No wonder that no one else but the US government is willing to buy our debt.  China, India, and Brazil are all taking a pass on our treasury bills.  And, income tax!  Whoo boy!  Here, my friends, is a facsimile of the very first 1040 form that was sent out by the IRS in 1913 and remained unchanged for 20 years.  One page and a flat, 1% tax.  Eminently fair.  John Rockefeller and my grandfather at a sewing machine were treated equally.  Nothing more democratic than that!  Now, the IRS code is bloated to thousands of pages that get changed every year.  Oh, and here is a quote from James Madison in which Madison rejected the idea of a national income tax.  Jimmy knew that governments would just squander the money.  And, he was right!

And that crash of 2008?.  All caused because that year 80% of mortgages -- all forced upon the lenders by Congress -- went to subprime borrowers.  And, when they defaulted, the economy went kablooey.  

We also learned that now is the greatest time ever for people to sell their companies.  It is a true sellers' market.  Interest rates are at 70 year lows.  Capital gain taxes are low.  Companies looking for acquisitions are flush with cash because they've had nothing to spend it on since 2008.  Europeans think US companies are bargains because the euro is strong compared to the dollar.  Why, just compare today's economic environment with the 1980's when interest rates on 10 yr treasuries were at 21%.  Back then, it was tough to find someone willing to take a risk on a buying a small company when they could earn a 21% return, risk free and backed by thefullfaithandcredit of these United States. I was too polite to ask why conservatives love them some Ronnie Reagan who oversaw that awful business climate and despise the Socialist Kenyan Muslim Usurper. 

The biggest mystery of all.  How is it possible for so many money guys to believe the right wing nonsense?  This passion for political dogma over facts has got to lose them money.  I have experienced two-score and more years of listening to ignorati making ludicrous false claims about science.  I have met physicists who dismiss evolution; but, I can't find any other examples of people who remain so steadfastly loyal to nonsense within their supposed areas of expertise.   What is going on?

Vindication and Vindictiveness

Yesterday, Ed Schultz did his MSNBC show from Toledo, Ohio. 

Toledo lost 39% of its manufacturing jobs in the last decade.  I assume that's on top of a gizzillion blue-collar jobs lost prior to 2000.  Although Ed's guests included the head of the steelworkers' union, it seemed, that most of the crowd were not factory workers (or ex-factory workers), but were teachers, cops, firefighters, and other unionized government employees targeted for impoverishment by Ohio's Tea Partying guv, John Kasich.

I, too, despise the third world trajectory plotted by Kasich and his fellow members of the Koch Brotherhood.  I support the unions.  But, I also want an apology.  I want all those macho schmucks and angry women to admit their role in bringing America to this awful point.  All of them -- who voted for Reagan then shrugged off his firing of the air traffic controllers, who voted for W (probably twice) and waved oversized Old Glories when we invaded Iraq and raged at "traitors" criticizing that absurd war, who claim a moral high ground but are silent on torture, who have been suckered by anti-gay and anti-immigrant dog whistle distractions -- owe the rest of us a big apology. 

Admit it; the liberals were right, and you were wrong.  You should follow the AA example by making amends to the millions of people you harmed during your forty year conservatism binge.  Admit that the broken furniture, smashed windows, and depleted checking account are your goddamn fault.  Your fault; the booze and the coke and the Republican whores are not to blame.  You are. 

Open Letter to Meghan McCain

Dear Ms. McCain,

What did you expect? Really. You are a Republican party shill. A conservative hack. You have criticized the obviously criticizable. That's your shtick. An inherited dollop of maverickism. You remain, however, the obvious product of your privileged upbringing. Your mother's inherited family fortune -- always huge -- has grown and grown and grown under 30 years of voodoo economics that has punished 90% of Americans. Have you complained about this inequity? No. Instead, you blast Wisconsin's unionized public employees and their supporters in the state legislature. Quelle surprise!

Republicans -- and you are one -- have been consistently wrong about the economy, taxes, the environment, global warming, energy, education, civil rights, women's rights, abortion, separation of church and state, Iraq, terrorism, Osama bin Laden, labor, the President's birthplace, the President's religion, unions, regulation, workplace safety, and Wall Street. You try claim a distinct identify by tugging at the edges: Sarah Palin and her clones, DADT, and California's Proposition 8. We get an ounce of sanity among a ton of crazy. Big deal.

Now, you have been burned by a right wing bomb thrower. Welcome to the club. Beck, Limbaugh, and the rest are the Republican party's brown shirts. Your crowd has long benefited from their lies and bullying. So don't expect us to share your outrage and indignation until you first speak up for every other victim of Glenn Beck's cruelty. I am waiting

Madness

Yo, Republicans!

This is one of yours, not one of ours. He is a registered Republican. He really believes the right wing blather about returning to the gold standard and government mind control and self-protection through grammatical absurdities.

Forget all the pundits debating vitriolic talk, climates of hatred, and nudge-nudge wink-wink incitements to violence. We must instead realize that ideology built entirely of lies and cruelty can succeed only by attracting this guy and thousands like him. Who else is going to buy that crap? Who else can be goaded into sputtering apoplectic rage about a heath care law that guarantees insurance coverage to children despite pre-existing conditions, allows parents to keep their children insured until they are 26, and repairs the "doughnut hole" in Medicare drug payments? For crying out loud, the designated hitter rule is more controversial. Except to this guy and his Play-Doh-brained ilk.

I'm a conservative, but....

The poignant part of this video begins at the seven minute mark. Solid midwesterners talk about their business, jobs, and town all going to hell after Wal-Mart moved in.



The stories are heartbreaking and depressingly emblematic of towns across the country. A generation --sometimes two--of hard work and hometown success are crushed. Success flips to failure within a few months. The cocoon is sliced open. The world outside is ugly, harsh, and brutal.

The people interviewed ruefully express small deviations from Republican ideology:

"I believe in free enterprise, but..."
"I'm not a communist or socialist, but..."

They don't get it. American conservatism and the Republican party exist to protect Wal-Mart and the grandly rich. Nothing else matters. The puppet masters know what to do when the base starts griping about that one inviolate issue. Turn up the propaganda. Make more anger. Create new enemies. Find conspiracies everywhere. Uncover traitors in high places. And, lie, lie, lie, lie, lie.

Hijacked Republicans

Pundits including Paul Krugman and Rachel Maddow tell us that the Republican party has been "hijacked" by conservative crazies. When was the party different? Maybe in Abe Lincoln's time. The GOP has long been an assembly of sociopaths worshiping the flag and stomping on the Constitution.

Who among Republicans publicly choose principle over right wing orthodoxy? I can only think of two events. Both are now distant history: Eisenhower sent troops to Little Rock to enforce court-ordered desegregation and Rep. Pete McCloskey opposed the Vietnam War. Anything else? How many Republicans spoke out against Joe McCarthy or Richard Nixon when it mattered? No; they acted like vultures hovering in the distance until time to feast on the carrion. How many Republicans admitted that Bill Clinton's impeachment was an obvious, unwinable, mean-spirited distraction from the nation's problems?

Look, I'm too old to expect magnificence in politics. There are no more profiles in courage. But, the Republican farm system produces a unique stream of craven dullards without capacity for self-reflection. They only know a three-page playbook: false piety, fake indignation, and manufactured fear. Reality is an enemy. Craziness is normal.

Ronald Reagan preached against Social Security and Medicare. He forecast socialism and doom. Has any Democratic president made such outrageous claims? Conversely, have any conservatives apologized for their idiot decisions? Instead, they Winston Smith history to convert failed right wing nuttiness into victory: the United States could have won in Vietnam, Joe McCarthy was correct all along, and Franklin Roosevelt prolonged the Great Depression.

Once again, I advocate a simple strategy. Every response to every conservative statement needs a preamble, "You were wrong about Iraq, wrong about financial deregulation, wrong about torture, wrong about civil rights, wrong about global warming, wrong about Terri Schiavo, wrong about sex education, wrong about energy conservation, wrong about tax cuts for the wealthy. Why should I believe you now?"

Wrong, wrong, wrong, and wrong again

Every response to every conservative comment must begin with a list of right wing failures. The Republicans got it wrong about the economy, wrong about deregulation, wrong about Iraq, wrong about torture, wrong about taxes, wrong about civil rights, wrong about global warming, wrong about Medicare, wrong about Social Security, and wrong about the environment. Why listen to them now? Why give them air time? Why imply any credibility?

Dick Cheney is a chronic liar. Nothing he says can be trusted. Jonathan Landay and Warren Strobel at McClatchy describe some of his recent lies here. Yet, Cheney goes unchallenged in interview after interview. Why?