What Do Conservatives Want?

The most cynical answer to that question--one which I fully endorse--is this: in the viewpoint of the conservative movement, government exists for one reason: to transfer as much money as possible from the working class to the wealthiest individuals and biggest corporations. That's it--the big funnel. And when those recipients of welfare for the wealthy turn around and contribute generously to keep those same conservatives in office, you have closed the wicked circle of government. One that mocks the Constitution, sure, but you have to admit it's pretty damned efficient.

Of course, people will disagree with this contention, but sometimes facts emerge which are pretty difficult to argue. The Atlantic Monthly provided such a service recently. They printed a two page graphical spread which compared what's happened to our country in the eight years since George W. Bush took office. The most compelling combination of facts is this:

• Defense spending increased 76%
• The number of designated foreign terrorist groups grew by 52%
• Total troops deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan (whether rightly or wrongly) went from 0 to 214 thousand
• BUT...the number of active duty personnel in the American troop levels actually went down three percent?

Didn't we actually need more people to fight all those threats? And if not, where the hell did all that extra $260 billion go? We spent 76% more for the military...but the military shrank by 3%?

In your heart, you already know the answer. It went to all of the private contractors who are building weapon systems we don't need, failing to adequately arm the troops we are sending into combat, and otherwise driving cowboy convoys in perfectly armored SUVs where they can kill innocent locals without fear of prosecution.

So, next time you hear so-called conservatives on TV complaining about budgets that collect too much tax revenue, remember what's really killing them--the money's now going back to the people who paid it, rather than to the plutocrats who run the wicked circle.

Nationalization

Sometimes things are just as simple as they seem.

Right now, the financial community (as reputedly evidenced by the further drop in the Dow Jones) is in a panic about the 'nationalization' of the banking industry. Let's set aside for the moment that no pending proposal really calls for that--even though they should. Let's actually think about the idea of the banking system as an arm of the Federal Government.

First of all, when someone pays an agreed upon amount of money to buy something, they own it. One automaker or drug company or local coffee shop buys another one--they own it. You buy one of those cars or pills or lattes--you own it. This is called the 'free market'. (Remember, once upon a time, when the Republicans prayed at that altar?)

But Jesus, we can't let that happen! The government owning the banks?! Think how bad that would be--the government screws up everything!

Wrong. If that's so, you're saying our brave fighting people in Iraq are screwups. You're saying the people who patrol your streets and put out your fires are screwups. You're saying George W. Bush was a screwup...(ah, well, OK, I give you that one).

The point here is that government is a product of people. It does not live and breathe on its own. And as a product of human beings, its value is simply the product of the people who lead it and provide it every day. To think otherwise is to say that all companies are bad...or all schools...or all rugby teams. There is, of course, conclusive proof to my contention: FEMA under James Lee Witt--very, VERY good; FEMA under Joe Allbaugh and Michael Brown--very, VERY bad. See what I mean?

Next point--if you fear the government running the banks, I ask you, how could they possibly do as criminally poor a job as the masters of the universe who have run them over the last five years? Honestly. Think of it this way. As a government agency, there will be regulations and laws for lending practices. If you break those laws (say, something as stupid as letting people make up their own income and fill that in on the loan form--really, who could be that dumb...), well, you could face prosecution and jail time. On the other hand, as long as banks remain in private hands, bad and greedy people are going to try to make more money for themselves.
So, government control=fixed salaries, no bonuses, oversight, transparency. Private control= what we have now. You choose.

What we are seeing at the moment are the same hypocritical bastards who ruined our economy yelping about how our economy might be ruined. These people shouldn't be on TV and in boardrooms trying to save their jobs--they should be in jail.

As long as our tax money is buying up their mistakes, we get to say what happens next. Free market--love it or leave it.

No Place to Hide

From the very start, I've had only one reservation about Barack Obama: did he really believe in the possibility of bipartisanship?

This week, he stood before a Democratic retreat and at least hinted that even if he did, he wouldn't take the opposing BS sitting down. He taunted the Republicans who taunted his stimulus plan. And he did this, I believe, because he recognized that breaking the culture of partisanship in Washington is not a realistic goal...maybe not even possible in any circumstance. The remaining people on the other side have just two goals. First, continue to carry water for the same plutocrats who have pushed our economy to the brink; and second, to discredit him.

Now, I have serious reservations about any stimulus plan. I don't see how anyone could not harbor doubts after we drowned the criminals on Wall Street with our tax dollars...never bothering to ask them, much less require them, to spend those dollars for the common good. Of course, the Republican opposition against the stimulus is largely a matter of objecting that middle class dollars be spent to help the middle class and poor. They believe the only job of government is to funnel the dollars of the non-wealthy to the uber-wealthy.

But there is at least one comic aspect to this drama. As the play moved into the Senate, it became abundantly clear that there simply is no actor to credibly stand before the cameras on behalf of the purchased scum. News channels were reduced to Senate floor clips of the increasingly irrelevant John McCain...and Newt Gingrich was pulled out of his psychiatric ward to blather on about the myth that is Ronald Reagan. But beyond that, who is there left to speak in the 'gentleman's club' for the hate wing of the party?

These people are defeated. They don't matter anymore to the American public. And as soon as the media realize this, we will all be better for it.