The Democrats have been calling the Republicans "the party of 'no'". Now, I don't really want to defend the GOP because they have behaved shockingly irresponsibly in recent years. But I wonder if the Democrats realize how this makes them sound.
I guess I just can't get past the Democrats proposing to "solve" the horrible deficits, for which they so roundly criticized the GOP, by quadrupling them (yep, it's quadruple). The GOP is saying "no" to that, not least because they realize that they messed up and don't want future generations to suffer any more. The Democrats are coming across like kids in a candy shop: all of a sudden they've got access to all this money, they've been out of power (they think, though not really) for years, and they want everything they want and they want it now. "D*** the torpedoes, full speed ahead, and s**** the deficit." For a party that prides itself on compassion, they are showing a disgusting lack of concern for future generations. They would do a lot better to get the deficit under control and THEN go after what they want. That would be the responsible thing to do.
The GOP are coming across like adults in this one.
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2 weeks ago
In the spirit of more humor rightly valued in your blog intro (which I agree the world needs more of!) perhaps it would be wise to put the Dem and the GOP leaders together in a big playpen and tell them to work out their differences? I think it's fair to say they all at one time or another - act like children :-)
ReplyDeleteIn the spirit of serious dialogue - I think the present situation fiscally in this country is a classic example of politicians running amuck; and a populace that doesn't want to take the time to educate themselves enough to vote/be involved intelligently. I'm not saying they need to be experts, but I don't think I'm far off in saying that the average voter doesn't have an economic clue, and relies on media talking points to understand what little they can/want to. Politicians take advantage of that imo.
Following up on Susan's comment, I'll mention something that really worries me. I think we're drifting towards a politicized media, where we'll have "Blue networks" and "Red networks" (OK, let's be more honest -- that would be "Red network") and even those citizens who try to conscientiously follow the news have to choose which set of facts they're going to hear.
ReplyDeleteI don't get most cable stations at home, so it was somewhat of a shock to flip through CNN, MSNBC, and FOX News a couple weeks ago while spending a few nights at a hotel. Fox has definitely drifted more blatantly to the right, and CNN and company are as apologetically left-biased as ever. The difference was probably best illustrated by coverage of the "tea parties" this week when Fox promoted them and the others downplayed them, sent "reporters" to belittle them, and had their anchors engage in sophomoric vulgar humor at their expense. Lost in all of it was a serious discussion of the issues: how does the just-approved spending plan compare to historical spending in a recession? What are the deficit projections for the next 8-12 years? What are the predictable (or likely) outcomes of multiplying national dept so quickly?
Perhaps the most important question is this: how can we have an informed public when the press has given up on its mission to inform?
The numbers are out there, it's just that the media, at least the broadcast/cable media, aren't paying that much attention. The scariest graph I've ever seen appeared in the Washington Post. I can't post a "live link" in a comment, but here's a link to the graph: http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3593/3385114562_2ee2696209.jpg
ReplyDeleteEven the White House is projecting a quadrupling of the last (and biggest) Bush deficit. What really fries me about this is the cynicism inherent in the graph. Note the steep decline toward the 2012 election, and then the rise afterward.