Things are different now.
The housing bubble meant that working people had to endure rents that doubled and trebled. Has there even been a crueler "boom"? Now the inevitable foreclosures are happening -- and at least one major mortgage company has been issuing bad checks for property taxes.
Alan Greenspan, former Federal Reserve chairman, told the Financial Times this week that double-digit falls in house prices from their peaks would not be surprising. A fall in house prices on that scale would be unprecedented in US history and would have an economic cost several times greater than the meltdown in the subprime mortgage market that triggered the current financial crisis.Meanwhile, the administration encourages job outsourcing. We simply do not make things anymore.
The final butcher's bill for our current wars may reach into the trillions. The current deficit makes the Bush I years look like an era of fiscal soundness.
The federal government recorded a $1.3 trillion loss last year — far more than the official $248 billion deficit — when corporate-style accounting standards are used, a USA TODAY analysis shows.(Emphasis added.)
The loss reflects a continued deterioration in the finances of Social Security and government retirement programs for civil servants and military personnel. The loss — equal to $11,434 per household — is more than Americans paid in income taxes in 2006.
Bottom line: Taxpayers are now on the hook for a record $59.1 trillion in liabilities, a 2.3% increase from 2006. That amount is equal to $516,348 for every U.S. household. By comparison, U.S. households owe an average of $112,043 for mortgages, car loans, credit cards and all other debt combined.We have funded our horrifying deficits with cash borrowed from China, the OPEC states and others. The Chinese are now diversifying their investments. One source has reported that they have threatened to use the "nuclear option" of liquidating their U.S. treasury holdings. While I do not consider the writer of that story particularly credible, how much longer can we expect our Asian friends to maintain faith in this economy?
The Saudis have indicated that they will no longer peg oil sales to the dollar. The Canadian dollar has achieved parity with the American dollar for the first time since 1976. The euro soon will be the new denominator of choice.
In short: George W. Bush (who gives himself an "A" in being "fiscally responsible") has done to the American economy what Laurel and Hardy did to Jimmy Finlayson's house in the classic short silent film Big Business.
All of which brings me to my question: How are we going to blame this mess on the Democrats?
Actually, I am looking for two "blame" strategies.
1. What "peg" will Republican propagandists use to blame this mess on the Democrats? I'm thinking of something similar to the smarmy arguments Milton Friedman used when he wanted to blame the Depression on FDR.
2. What kind of argument will Progressive Purists employ to blame the Dems? Their bullet points will differ from those favored by the Limbaugh-tomized legions.
Dem-hate is political smack. It ain't about logic; we're simply addicted to the rush. If anything goes wrong in your life -- if your shoes fall apart, if your uncle has a mountain climbing accident, if your dog vomits on the new carpet -- blame the Democratic party. Especially if you call yourself a liberal. That's why you'll find about as many anti-Dem posts on Democratic Underground as on the Free Republic.
So when China calls in its chips and the dollar is officially no longer the world's currency and you lose your job and you are being foreclosed out of a home that is worth half the price you agreed to pay -- you will know what to do. Shake your fist in the general direction of Washington DC and shout: "Damn you, John Kerry! Damn you, Nancy Pelosi! Damn you, Harry Reid! Damn you, Hillary Clinton! Damn you, Barack Obama! This is all YOUR fault!"
The Dems screw up everything and only our Republican "Daddy" can put things right. That's the national storyline and we are sticking to it.
3 comments:
Joe, it is your blog, and certainly your prerogative to write about any topic you choose. I generally read your blog first everyday, and I've always said that you fill a very unique niche on the web. You parse out the BS and report on stories that the mainstream media ignores. Most of all, you demonstrate an incredible well of knowledge, humor, and insight.
That said, I don't know why you continue to lump all of your readers into one group - a group you make it clear that you "despise." I am not a 9/11 conspiracy guy, mostly because I think the Bush gang is far too incompetent to pull it off - for God's sake, they cannot stage a press conference with the troops, much less pull off 9/11. I also like the Dems, as do my family and liberal friends. That doesn't mean that they don't let me down sometimes, but I am a realist, and I think that for the most part, the Dems are fighting an uphill battle against an unrealistic base and uncompromising opposing party. I personally think John Kerry is an outstanding senator and an even better person. I don't think that he was a great candidate, but that is less a reflection on him than on our current political system and climate. John Kerry's integrity wouldn't allow him to fight dirty - I certainly don't hate him for that integrity.
I hope that you continue this blog, but instead of focusing on the hostile readers, why don't you gear the blog towards the sane, supportive readers? I hate reading every screed deriding your readers as Dem haters. Do you get a buzz from hating your readers? I do empathize - I cannot stand the angry left either - that is why I don't go to the extreme-left websites. I read your site for some balance and sanity, not more hostility. It is the same reason that I listen to Thom Hartmann, but not Mike Malloy, Janeane Garofalo, or Randi Rhodes - I cannot stand the anger. Interact with your rational readers, instead of indiscriminately labeling us all trannies and Dem-haters. Ignore the people who actually deserve those labels, and maybe they will go away. Continue to focus on the fringe liberals, and they will be all that is left of your audience. Just my 2 cents.
dermo, you take things too personally. You can still take the challenge. How will the Republican propagandists rise to the challenge? It's a tough job, but if they could blame the Depression on FDR, they can do this.
As for the Progressive Purists -- again, we know what conclusion they will reach. They've never offered anything but mindless Demhate for the past thirty years. I'm just curious as to which rationale they will choose to get to that destination THIS time.
Prediction: Within thirty years, a "progressive" will write a book labeling the Iraq war "Kerry's war" or "Clinton's war" -- with Bush portrayed as something akin to a hapless onlooker, or perhaps a simple political anomaly outside of normal party category.
Mark my words. Watch it happen.
"How will the Republican propagandists rise to the challenge? "
Hillary Clinton Nutcracker
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