Thursday, June 24, 2010

A political observation...

So, John Q. Public is all consumed by the Gulf oil spill and by who is going to command the troops in Afghanistan, and while so involved this stalwart citizen has a shiv slipped between his shoulder blades.  The financial package which has been working its way through the Senate and which would extend unemployment benefits to 1.5 million unemployed and help support state and local governments that are on the edge of bankruptcy was defeated by 41 votes against 57 in favor. And you thought we had "majority rule" in our democracy ... not really, it's minority rule!

So, who, pray tell, would stick that shiv in John Q?  Well, 40 Republican Senators joined by quasi-Democrat Ben Nelson of Nebraska, that's who.  And meanwhile, they want to extend the tax breaks to the wealthy that Bush and congressional Republicans granted a few years ago, decrying letting them run out as a "tax hike."  What balderdash!

The worst of this is the short-sighted reasoning of those who suddenly are worried about the national debt, for their concern for deficits is bound to prolong the recession and perhaps make it worse.  Congress pushed Franklin Roosevelt into trying to balance the budget in 1937, and it plunged the country even deeper into depression.  In the end, it was World War Two that turned things around, but since we've already got a war on our hands, indeed one that is contributing mightily to our deficits, we won't be bailed out by another war.

In the end, if you are earning less than $150,000 a year and you go along with this reasoning, you are simply acting against own economic interests. Think about that when the November elections roll around.

1 Comments:

Blogger C4 said...

So true. I hope but doubt that the electorate will see what this means for them come November. I never understand how supposedly intelligent people can be so stupid when it comes to electing politicians.

10:10 AM  

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