If you are wondering why this nation is in a world of hurt on the economic front at the moment, look no further than the Grover Norquist School of Republicanism: "My goal is to cut government in half in twenty-five years," he says, "to get it down to the size where we can drown it in the bathtub."
Here’s a clue, Grover — size isn’t everything, but ability to perform well is. One would have thought you might have learned that important lesson at some point. Sadly…no.
As if that weren’t enough, self-styled "leaders" in conservative punditry think grocery prices are just the same as always, and anyone who is having trouble making ends meet should just suck it up and deal. Meet the McCain campaign’s likely economics philosophy in a nutshell, given that it’s being driven by the likes of former Sen. Phil Gramm (R-Enron) and "Mr. Trickledown" Jack Kemp.
Let’s take a peek at what this philosophy of anti-government-for-and-by-the-people, economic Darwinism that could give a rat’s ass unless you are a crony has wrought, shall we?
– Shaila Dewan has a poignant, powerful piece on homelessness in New Orleans and the decided lack of low-income housing options for the worst off in that area. A lot of the lower-income housing was destroyed in the storm — no shock, there, since poverty generally relegates you to living in riskier, less-desirable areas — but all these years later, here we still are. With children who may have suffered long-term health damage from the formaldehyde-laced trailers in which FEMA negligently and knowingly parked them. Lovely.
– Scout Prime has a great recap of the McClellan discussions on Heckuva Job Brownie and the Bush Katrina failures, and the Iraq mess as part of the equation. See the YouTube above as a reminder of the chronic indifference that was the Bush Administration’s response to the disaster. Warning: the sheer stupidity and unfeeling detatchment will still piss you off. Republican theory of government writ devastatingly crony-ridden and craptastic, with other people paying the consequences for their inactions.
– Think someone else’s economic woes aren’t your problem? Welcome to rats and other new wildlife in your neighborhood, gated communities included.
– Something tells me folks saying groceries are the same price as always aren’t going shopping on a budget of $219 a month. And before someone throws out the "get a job" canard, how do you do that if you have a disabled child or parent at home for whom you are caring 24/7 and a spouse who is already working two jobs? Compassion is such a lost art among certain circles, isn’t it?
– How low has the dollar sunk that Mexican investors find us a good target for their extra wealth? Can you remember the last time we were this ripe for the picking for foreign investments? It’s been a while.
– The new front in falling house values and default-o-rama? Freezing home equity lines. Feeling better about the economy’s long-term chances yet? Then this should help you out.
The choices that we make in elections have long-term consequences. We cannot afford another four years of Republicans in charge of the economy. Hell, we can’t afford to let them run a lemonade stand on the corner because it would turn out to have toxic effects on the kiddies who buy it due to their profit-enhancing, cost-cutting measures and the use of genetically modified lemons that secretly turn people into mutant ninja turtles.
Related posts:
- Liz Cheney Warns Against “Walking Away” from Afghanistan, Apparently Forgetting that Dick Cheney Walked Away from Afghanistan
- What would Dick Cheney do?
- BREAKING: Cheney FBI Interview Notes Released
- David Broder Gives Cheney a Big Blow-Job
- Less Robust Public Option a Double Slap in the Face to Working Class Americans
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So, Christy!
Afternoon, Ann — what’s shakin’?
WOW Great post, Christy. Thanks for all the infor. Sickening Repubs.
Afternoon Christy!
CNN also has another unaccounted for side effect on renters who have paid rent on time yet being evicted with little or no notice because the landlord wasn’t paying the mortgage.
Two fresh posts at the same time…
Lots going on today. *g* No reason folks can’t chat on whatever thread they find interesting, eh?
It’s like “Duelin’ Posts.”
“Dee dee dere dere dere dere dere dere dere…”
no problem, just confused… and I appreciate the continual posts on my “fine” (cough, cough) senator… ;)
Christy, you said Here’s a clue, Grover — size isn’t everything.
It reminds me of It ain’t the meat, it’s the motion!
And, it’s not what you have, but what you do with it!
There, I’ve said it.
Or, in terms of Acting Class….What’s my motivation for this scene?
From the video:
Uh huh.
I was wondering who’d be the first to comment on my “turn of phrase” there. *G* Congrats, demi…
Last I remember our country being ripe for picking for foreign investment was after the last Real Estate crash when the RTC (Resolution Trust Corp.) owned so much property. I worked in real estate research at the time and saw many, many Saudi names on Affidavits of Value as the buyer. Japan was also enriching themselves at our expense at the time. Not that it was their fault! By the way, the other name I saw a lot of was DeConsini (D) Senator from right here in AZ where he speculated on a lot of AZ land.
The Hampsters?
Good gravy what IS the topic?
Cold showers? *g*
Now I know they’re trying to drive us crazy! I keep saying, I’m a S L O W R E A D E R! I can barely read one post and have time to comment; two is ridulous! Y’all are gonna make me schizophrenic!
Multi-tasking, multi-tasking
I think it’s all about how in the Gooper world, there is “people like us” and then there is “the help”. Goopers don’t care about ‘the help”.
Throw in Tbogg and Marcy and I’ll never get any work done today!
You actually get work done?
Thanks much — thought folks would find a number of these links useful and informative. Especially for political conversations with folks, should the subject of the economy come up… hint…hint…
Really
Sounds like South Side Blues to me!
Christy, your post is another valuable contribution. But we should be fair to Darth Cheney Economics-Darthonomics. Halliburton, still pays Cheney lots of money, because it has been a tremendous economic success. One of the best customers for Halliburton and other US corporations is Iran. Iran pays good money for high speed electrical switches and centrifuges.
Dick Cheney is a study in Shock Doctrine all by himself, isn’t he?
Let’s Digg Christy folks
Are folks noticing much of a change in driving or any other econ ramifications where you live? I’ve noticed that a lot more folks seem to be taking the bus here, and that more families especially are bringing calculators with them to the grocery store. Anyone else noting stuff like that in their area?
Little curtsey…thank you, thank you, I’ll be here all week. Try the macaroni and be sure to tip your waitress generously.
And, now to put on a sweet little dress and nylons and go to a job interview. It’s prolly a good thing I got my ya ya’s out here and now, so that I can go be professional. Ha!
Got.Ours.Pissoff.
The bus use has pretty much doubled over the last year here in Grand Rapid,MI Christy. Along with the train trips i take to chicago, which have gone up exponentially in the last three years. We had full passenger cars on the way there, and on the way back 5 days later.
I haven’t seen the calculator thing, though. I also drive a lot less, but that’s mostly becuase i’ve been broke for years to begin with. So i cut it down and don’t do too many car based road trips unless i’m visiting family.
Good luck with your interview!
I hear about the protests against corruption in China re poorly built schools that enabled deaths of children during the earthquake. Wish our people would sustain a sense of outrage. Wish our leadership would focus off politics and onto crises within the vast populace.
Chronic frustration in America but a learned helplessness and apathy as our common good continues to circle the bowl.
I am glad to join the firedogs and get my consciousness raised and my daily dose of reality (shock) check.
MSM…. politics and the horserace dominate. So I hope to God a dem is in the WH, who does not get sandbagged in a glacial system when the world and US is on fire.
McClellan’s book hit a nerve of defensiveness with our press. Awesome to hear them chastise McClellan for personal disloyalty DESPITE THE INSANE CORRUPTION of this administration. And busily quote the talking points of an administration drowning us all in the bathtub.
Corporate cronyism. Robotic global psychopathic capitalism …
Keep sharing. We are building a counter-culture of sanity.
There’s a guy who is rehabbing an old building in the city. My company is moving there in a couple of months and I asked about bike parking – they’ve already installed a bike rack and are going to order another.
Good luck demi! I had my own interview tuesday. Now i have to wait on an answer.
I never even thought of that…..
I’ve been walking on short errands. 20 min to the Post, 40 min to the Farmers Market, going to brave the busier streets with my recumbent trike next and head out for a little more distant grocery store. Am researching the bus routes. I have the luxury of staying at home, so we’re seeing if we can make do with one car. Wait…of course we can ‘make do’ with one car. We are so fortunate we take even that for granted.
Never thought about renters being evicted, I meant, re dakine01 at #4
We live near-ish to a busstop, so I get a good view of folks waiting for the bus and getting off it in our neighborhood. And it’s definitely been more folks lately. A lot more. I had been combining my store and errand runs for a while, anyway, including popping a cooler in the back of my car for refrigerator stuff in case I needed to be out a bit longer to finish up the chores. And I’ve been seeing folks walking to the store and back a lot more, at least based on them carrying a bag of groceries as they are walking anyway…
Good for them. I have a feeling we’ll all be seeing a few more bike racks in our futures…
saddest of all? if the economy weren’t in a shambles, the Rethugs might actually still be able to cheat and deceive their way to something short of the electoral whuppin’ they so richly deserve.
It is awfully sad that you have to smack people across the head with their own empty wallets before they wake up and see the light, isn’t it?
Earlier thread I noted learning that it’s now cheaper to send a 2-oz letter to Canada than the USA. Subsequently I learned that if you use bulk mailing’s it can cost you more to send a letter across the street than across the country.
Everything Team BushCo touches turns to shit.
And Rumpelstiltzgrover could care less because in the great tradition of the uber-class, what’s his is his and what’s Main Street’s is his, too….
We are living in the age of BushCo Barbarism…civilization, rule of law, social order, common good? How quaint.
I’ve been the ‘lone biker’ here at my workplace for a long time. I was approached recently by another woman about how to plan her commute as well. The landlord of this building told me that having bike parking has come up in almost every rental discussion he has had for his new space.
I’m not so sure, punaise, that they won’t deceive their way back to the WH. Their base is more concerned with Guns, Guts, Guns, Gays, Abortion and the Flag, as Jim Webb put it.
People at my local post office said that since the earlier postal increase [even before this month’s] quantity of mailing is way off.
our biggest problem, i think, is that the dems have sold out the working class – i’m hoping that will change, but until it does we’re left with explaining how being sold out by the Ds is better than ripped off by the Rs.
Greedy Oil Pushers
or
Greedy Ol’ Party
or, Got Oughta Puke
We only have one car. We both work at home. There is a bike trail right behind my house, too. At times we need another car but not enough to do anything about it.
oops, God Oughta Puke!
I don’t think you can say that for all of the Dems. Which is where the “better” part of the Blue America equation hopefully comes into play at some point…
O/T — Wolfie asks Candy: McCain releases thousands of medical record pages, Obama releases a one-page report…what am I missing?
Ummmm, one’s healthy?
If only the GOP would be willing to recycle natural resources the way they recycle their tired pundits, corrupt politicans and regressive ideas.
-G
To my great shame, the foundations of the notion that government is simply anot her agency for mediating human selfishness was dug by my colleagues in economics, who for the past twenty-five years have been trying to do a demolition job on the New Deal. At first it just seemed like an academic game, but as people began to believe in the notion that politicians are entrepreneurs trying to sell a product to the public just like other entrepreneurs, they became easy prey to cynicism about government in general, which is a shorter distance from pure nihilism than most people are prepared admit. It’s very much the way the Villagers view national politics.
The analogy with the market isn’t good economics; its infantile economics. If you want to know why, you can get good non-technical expositions in Robert Frank’s Falling Behind and Nancy Folbre’s The Invisible Heart, both of which put paid to Milton Friedman’s social vision.
It is hard to accept the degree to which the powerful have ripped off ordinary people in this country. To understand it you have to read the fine print, which most people don’t bother to do until they lose their medical coverage, home, or pension. Few people other than the economically self-interested understand the significance of rules governing the accounting for certain kinds of business expenses, for example, or determining the nature of legal liability. If they knew, they would also know how badly the game is rigged against them.
The GOP’s newest plea to environmentalists:
At least we re-use douchebags.
-G
Interesting you should ask. I’ve recently seen lots more calculators at the grocery store, only very recently.
And, from a driving perspective, a first: I drove from Madison to Eau Claire Wisconsin two weeks ago, set the cruise at 71 as I normally do, and was not passed by a semi one time. Not once. Normally, my 71 mph is pitifully slow and I have to speed up regularly to remain alive. But not on that trip. I’m driving to Milwaukee tomorrow. I’ll test it again.
“As gas prices approach and surpass $4 a gallon, the buses carrying thousands of Southern Maryland commuters into the District every day are filling up, prompting some local officials to worry that soon there won’t be enough seats. Last week, Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) announced a $3.36 million expansion of the commuter bus system statewide. http://www.washingtonpost.com/…..03755.html
In Loudoun County, ridership on county-run commuter buses jumped 23 percent in April from April 2007. Officials scrambled to put additional buses into service, two months ahead of schedule.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/…..02371.html
And, I know I read an article from WaPo from the past couple of weeks(I can’t find it now) where they talked about people leasing/selling their homes in outlying areas such as Culpepper to move closer because of the commuting costs. They interviewed Real Estate people who were quoted as saying that the ‘distance to work’ is number one now.
Bushco and lobby-dominated govt. faux-Congressional leaders, corporate cronies gone global … I guess if you keep everyone drowning in their own economic woes… they can’t rally within themselves and with others against ya. The serial eocnomic rape of America and the rest of the world, while we are at it.
So gas is thicker than blood, too, with Americans. The gas raping a tipping point… but late in game … and more tipping points to come as an undertow to keep sociopathic business as usual. Big sharks now feeding on smaller sharks.
Condi just chastised McClellan. After all she trusted Bush’s instincts.
Being Republican NEVER HAVING TO SAY YOU ARE SORRY.
Citizens calling conditions a “horror show” because of gas prices. Welcome to consciousness America… karma karma karma. Keep waking.
The wealthy people I know are not cutting back at all. Times are good for them. One of them just bought a boat; one of them bought a bigger SUV to haul his trailer. The not as wealthy people I know (who live in the city) have been taking public transportation for years already.
In my neighborhood, our fairly expensive grocery store went out of business and was replaced by a ridiculously expensive grocery. With food inflation on top of that, I am definitely cutting back on what I buy. Most people I know aren’t. They are quite picky about what they eat – it has to be organic, etc. and they are willing to spend whatever it takes to feel healthy.
no, i don’t think it’s true of all the dems – but they are a small minority and they are not part of the leadership.
the only reason i have hope for better dems is because of Howie’s work (and his colleagues and others doing similar kinds of things).
And yes, I know the speed limit is 65 and I should be going 55 for the best gas mileage. I’m a a law breaker and a sometimes hypocrite…and I admit it…
Those who think grocery prices either haven’t risen or the increase isn’t much of a problem must have never been in a supermarket line & watched a regular senior citizen on a fixed income put back food items she didn’t have the money to pay for. This was after apologizing to the optician next in line that she would make a payment (usually about $5-$10) on her eyeglasses as soon as she could.
Thanks, and thanks to CHS too.
I had two interviews last week. The first one was with a total a**hole who kept referring to the other administrative assistants as The Girls and was otherwise also very rude. He offered me the job and I declined. In a nice way, tho. Trying to keep my karma up or free or whatever.
The other interview, as it turned out, was with a Real Estate office that’s helping Countrywide with their foreclosures…haven’t had a chance to decline that offer, yet.
Man, Oh, Man, times sure be tough.
anyway…see y’all later.
I was having a conversation with my current boss yesterday(full disclosure – I work for an unregulated subsidiary of a gas and electric utility)about the costs we are seeing being fed to us on natural gas. He agrees with me that what we will probably see in Upstate New York this fall and winter is a big return to things like wood stoves and outdoor wood burners which are really really dirty. The big problem is that there are no programs to help people in rural areas put in new windows, insulation and furnaces – these are the people who need help the most, who waste energy the most, and who can’t do anything about it.
A lot of meaty links there CHS. By the time I finished browsing your post, there were 64 comments! Consistent content, TY.
We drive about 80 miles to our country house every weekend. When I first went down we did about 80 miles an hour, which was the practical limit allowed by the police. Since the rise in gas prices I’ve cut my speed to between 60 and 65. Even so, the roundtrip is costing us close to $50 a pop, and we drive a Mazda3, which is hardly a gas guzzler. We can afford it, but our next car is going to be even more efficient.
What! Sara Taylor on MSNBC. Yuk. Double Yuk. She took the Kommander Guy Oath. But she is defending KKKarl. Scott is so surprising and shocking in his puzzzzzling book.
Off Topic and I apologize, but this makes me sick: from RawStory “NBC’s Brian Williams claimed that the media were merely reflecting a national desire for war, saying, “People have to remember the post-9/11 era, and how that felt and what the president felt he was empowered to do.”" Well, Brian, People have to remember Germany during the post WWI era, and how that felt and what Hitler felt he was empowered to do. That makes it ok, doesn’t it?
Those of us who live in rural areas will see more of this also – shortening the school week to save on gas.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/…..04153.html
Oh man, I think I was behind that same lady at the drugstore the other day. Breaks my heart…
Spam sales are up
The press is practicing CYA big time.
Their base has to be reminded constantly that when the Republics had total power, Republics did nothing about those issues. These are issues not issues to be addressed. They are issues to use, election after election, to excite the base and control the conversation.
Glad you found them useful. I always wonder if my econ posts are something folks enjoy, given how much more meat y’all get from an Ian post. *G*
breaks my hearat and pisses me off. I’m now volunteering at a food bank (they do monthly distributions for seniors and it’s tight. Seems to be the situation all around but the local Trader Joe’s is kicking in donations of bread and stuff for the homeless food kitchens and such. *sigh*
It’s too late. Who are they talking to anyway? Who are the audience? Other villagers. Ordinary people are too worried about their grocery and gas bills to worry about something as theoretical as press complicity in war crimes.
my heart..not hearat
Edwards said the gate between the two Americas seems to have moved from tightly around the WH (and cronies) and the rest of us, though of course there is a continuum.
May Day in America. And living on credit that has an undertow taking us more and more out to sea and away from higher ground. Waiting to exhale.
And as for the Dems…. backroom politics scare me and show me ethics and transparency are not so much priorities. We need a paradigm shift. I pray BO can turn the ship around. Higher ground …. can anyone see it? Feel it?
“I owe my soul to the company store.”
Yep, our cabin is 60 miles away and we’ve been having the same discussion. We’ve got one small SUV that tows stuff but our next 2nd car must get at least 30 mpg combined and it has to have fold down seats so we can use it on most trips.
I keep seeing article after article on how tough things are for food banks and other groups that do food distribution. Donations are down because folks who used to regularly donate can’t afford to do so. It’s the never-ending cycle of folks who have little being willing to share a little when they can, but folks who have a lot sharing only with themselves so that those who could use a hand don’t get the opportunity for one.
And, frankly, I’m just as guilty of forgetting to kick in a little more often as the next guy — we could do a lot more than we already are, but we just haven’t been. Am making a mental note to call the Mission here and see what they need…
The press is practicing CYA big time.
probably already noted, but here’s Glenn Greenwald, quoting D. Ignatius:
to which GG follows up:
I’m growing extra in my garden this year for our local food bank
Christy@68:
It’s got to be happening all over this country. This happened recently in nearby small town. The optician told us (without naming her) but I’m sure there are many others in the same situation here & everywhere else. Sure doesn’t make me proud of this country.
A recent article in Mpls Star Trib on the really low approval rating of bush, around 25%, was interesting when they got comments from people. A manufacturing foreman & his wife who also worked said they just haven’t noticed any economic effects in their household. He thought media was exaggerating it’s stories. Of course, he also thought bush was doing a good job because we haven’t gotten attacked since 911.
Typical. If it doesn’t happen (or hasn’t yet) to them, it just doesn’t exist.
Shall I bark now or later? Sickening.
this morning’s democracy now! included a very interesting interview with Tariq Ali (part of their series “1968: Forty Years Later.”). i was fascinated by his description of events in france in 1968.
barffffff not bark.
I have to keep fighting off a panicky (sp?) feeling that we should sell this house which is really too big for the 2 of us and buy a small farmstead. I think it may be important in the not so distant future to live in a self-sustaining community. Of course, we’d lose money on our home, thanks to Bush and Gramm et al.
at the time and place of your choosing…
victoria, God Oughta Puke is brilliant.
Our local food shelf is having trouble keeping up too. I’ve been making a point of sending a check, instead of canned goods, etc, more often so they can buy what they are lacking.
my apologies to the mods – meant to cut that long quote further before hitting the submit button.
… and also to say that i don’t think better dems alone will get us the kind of massive reforms i think we need. (for those who don’t know me – i’m advocating nonviolent resistance not armed revolution).
ironranger, why thank you!
Thanks, I’m sure any help will be appreciated.
We receive corporate donations but with more folks coming in for assistance to stretch their food budget, it is getting harder. Do we cut down on what we give each individual person or do we turn them away. As is we aren’t accepting any new applications until July *sigh*
PoP at Morning Martini keeps a ‘Care and Share’ box, I think she calls it, in her kitchen and tries daily to add something to it for her local food agency. I am going to start doing that today.
As am I. Hope some other folks are doing the same. Every little bit helps
I don’t know anyone who doesn’t despise msm. This CYA poo the pundits are flinging this week ain’t gonna to change anyone’s minds.
Christy,
- In my very rural area, our local transportation folks said they have reached capacity for the commuter buses and are looking at what to do next.
- One of the local Chamber managers mentioned that folks were canceling out of a baseball tournament because of fuel costs.
- At my local grocery store, one of the checkers mentioned that folks aren’t driving to the county seat (over 20 miles away) or the big city (over 50 miles away) for shopping, so they are actually seeing an increase in business.
- I don’t even want to mention that fuel costs my husband’s business $2,000 more a month than last fall.
So many outrages and so few angry blogs. Would you believe war wounds are a lot like football injuries? PTSD and traumatic brain injuries suffered by Iraki vets are overblown, and really the main diagnosis should be just “adjustment disorders”. Why does the Veteran’s Administration hate veterans?
the big secret and the big lie;
corporate services are MUCH more then the same service provided by government, it is corporate PROPAGANDA when they make believe private industry is more efficient then government
businesses charge what the market will pay, when a service is mandated or necessary they will charge as much as possible not as little as possible
their propagand otherwise is the great secret and the big lie
I never understood the Republican form of economic Darwinism. In the natural world, the lions don’t eat all the antelopes all at once. That would be antithetical to their survival.
and now something totally off topic but totally excellant news, the media might finally begin assuming their role as the fourth estate (just in time for a democrat president, surprise of surprises)
oh, the lead belongs in that quote;
that’s from think progress
O/T Do you think there will be a thread about the 800 lb gorilla in the room (a la the Rules and Bylaws Committee meeting this weekend)? Or is the possibility of poo flinging too much?
I guess Faux News Channel really cannot qualify as mainsteam. Hell, it can’t even qualify as journalism…
get in the habit, too, of getting something for the food bank cart at your local grocery story. Maybe it’s the weekly special, or the “one free” of buy one-get one…. easy to do, everyday philanthropy.
I saw her and felt grateful she said that. Of course, she was on another network at the time when stifled, and was she cnn’s token momentary honest person so they can congratulate themselves for a voice of criticism amidst the defensive talking heads?
I give Mr. Russert a lion’s share of responsibility for sabotaging the liberal perspective and keeping the insanity going. Hope Big Russ is proud of sunny boy and his fight against the intellectual elite. Enjoy brokering power you corporate mouthpieces? And once again you have not said truth to power but enabled. DENIAL. Don’t Even Notice I Am Lying.
You guys hold the flashlights on America’s attention… and trust me… it has corporate batteries.
When i can spare for that, i plan on doing that myself. I used their services a few years back when i was just learning to deal with my chronic pain issues and working with them. (and being dirt poor and unqualified for ANY welfare beyond 3 months worth of food stamps, i took that option.) So now i want to make sure they’re able to help others. I’m still having a hard time getting by, but it’s marginally easier at the moment. Not by much though. *sighs*
A shameful pittance, I’m sure! A friend of mine recently qualified for them when she had serious surgery and I was shocked at how little she received. Of course this is Texas. It was about a weeks worth of groceries, I am not really very extravagant.
Christy, that lede is rippin’! Put it in the macro file. I’ve been yelling stuff along those lines for a while now.
Hey Grover, you simpleton, deregulation got us the biggest ripoff in US History.
Agree with your sentiments. However, I think “denial” is too kind a word. When I hear “denial” to me it means the person is completely unaware of the harm they are causing and therefore do not have to accept responsibility. But in many cases, The Russerts mean “I didn’t do anything wrong” when they discover you are on to their con game. But they do know they are con artists.