you owe $30,000
Mar 31, 2006 @ 22:03
For better or for worse, there will be no new or improved national social programs in this country.
The previously [arguably] financially conservative Republican party has turned into the borrow-and-spend party. They no longer are small government on the surface, as they are spending just as much as the Democrats. However, they are taxing less, which means to afford it America has to borrow money from countries like China and Japan.
Yes, that's right, we don't just get to print Monopoly money. America owes trillions of dollars to other countries. The Republicans are all for the new $9,000,000,000,000 debt limit. We're well on our way there from the $8 trillion in debt we're at now.
Now here's the problem: The Democrats are financially responsible. They want to reduce our debt and balance our budget. The Republicans know this, and they've designed the ultimate in devious plans. The Republicans rack up record debts and deficits, and then when/if the Democrats are in power, the Democrats will attempt to pay down our debt and balance our budget, which will leave no money left for the Democrats to start new national social programs. The Democrats' own fiscal responsibility will be used against them by the Republican debt-machine in order to execute the Republican "starve the beast" small government agenda.
The only way Democrats could grow the government is by raising taxes, which always leads to Republicans getting elected again. The Democrats can't beat the Republicans on this. Every time the Republicans are in power they can rack up debt in order to stop the Democratic agenda.
The only way this cycle will ever change, the only way we'll ever see strong federal domestic policy in this country, is if the American people can be convinced that a huge national debt is a bad thing. It might take our economy collapsing to do that convincing.
I leave you with this quote:
"The American Republic will endure, until politicians realize they can bribe the people with their own money." -Alexis de Tocqueville (thanks Brian)
evil pod people
Mar 29, 2006 @ 22:09
I was helping Arden move out of her house again as a favour to the sith, and at the end I got to help him tear apart a like 30 year old huge metal professional video camera stand. We managed to make some serious progress and I got greased up in the process. That was kind of fun. Reminds me of making a rubber shirt after school over the course of a few days back in high school. I think it was probably the damp air, poor incandescent lighting, and industrial rubber smells that triggered the memories. I shoulda been a greasemonkey... or a robotics guy... or something. I guess it isn't too late for Robotics, though I think Nikos Papanikolopolous Papanikolopoulos probably doesn't like me anymore. That would be a problem.
rusted guns of milan
Mar 28, 2006 @ 20:03
That's why I fucking love British Rock... it sounds so damn sweet live. Art Brut was fantastic, but very brief. A perfect cover of the opening to Metallica's "Enter Sandman" magically turned into "Formed a Band" and that's how they opened their set.
Babes in Toyland also got a shout out. Too bad Di and her friends don't read my blog.
norm wags the fear dog
Mar 27, 2006 @ 19:37
Norm Coleman is wagging the fear dog tonight via CNN. Norm is holding a hearing tomorrow on dirty bombs — the great GOP distraction from the illegal NSA spying hearings that are *ALSO* happening tomorrow.
I'm not really surprised given Norm's response to my concerns:
"I reject the idea of the President being censured. We must keep in mind that we are a nation at war and a country under threat of terrorist attacks. I believe we must explore this matter deliberately and not use it for partisan political purposes. After careful consideration of the legal and security issues involved, I support the National Security Agency (NSA) Terrorist Surveillance Program."
Thanks Norm. I know a shouldn't probably fuck with you... then again, I don't fly around in small aircraft much, so I might be safe?
Of course... I will give some credit to Senator Coleman. We really should be inspecting those mysterious shipping containers. We definitely need more port security and border security if we don't want to be blown to high heaven, but the timing is dubious at best.
Not to mention of course that before and after the xenophobic Dubai Ports World debacle, nothing has been done to improve port security, and actually the Republicans voted down over a billion dollars in funding that Minnesota's Representative Sabo wanted to use to make the ports safer. Not to mention how the Republican's caved to lobbyists from the Chemical industry, leaving urban plants vulnerable.
They don't really care.