Cheers and Jeers: Tuesday

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From the GREAT STATE OF MAINE

Meanwhile, Five years Ago?

I should say upfront that I'm not a big Mort Zuckerman fan. We don?t exactly run around in the same billionaire circles, seeing as his billions are measured in dollars and mine are measured in dust bunnies. Nevertheless, every May I revisit this U.S. News column, in which he seethes over how the economic fortunes of the U.S. cratered under the watchful eye of George W. Bush and his flying monkeys in Congress:

The American public, not to speak of its elected officials, has been stunningly indifferent to our reckless fiscal course of the past five years. Maybe it's because our focus has been so much on terrorism, but the numbers are terrifying, too. President Bush inherited a budget surplus estimated at $5.6 trillion over 10 years. He has converted that giant plus into a giant minus---deficits estimated at $5 trillion over those same 10 years. Talk about a U-turn!

Funny how later, with the election of a Democratic president, the indifferent Republican rabble suddenly woke up, donned their dusty tri-corn hats, and demanded action because deficits matter!!! But I digress. Back to Mort?

It is scandalous the way our politicians have compromised the nation's fiscal health. And it is morally outrageous that President Bush has succeeded in making matters worse by getting congressional support for extending capital gains and the dividend tax cut. These primarily benefit the well-to-do---at a time when middle- and lower-income families face soaring costs of housing, medical care, and gas prices, not to mention jobs with no health coverage or even access to unemployment insurance. So, do our elected officials try to increase the minimum wage? No. Do they try to cut taxes for the poor or provide more medical care? No. What do they do? They give even more tax benefits to the wealthiest.

It took Democrats to raise the minimum wage, extend unemployment benefits, cut taxes for the poor, kick-start green energy and provide more medical care.

For Republicans to define themselves as fiscal conservatives after five years of profligacy is hypocrisy on stilts. No matter how cynical you are, it is difficult to keep up with such irresponsibility.

Today the GOP continues to cling to that self-definition, and the media continues to "catapult the propaganda" (Bush's words, spoken six years ago this month). Witness last Sunday's TV lovefest, with Republican guests outnumbering Democratic ones 8-to-1 on the major talk shows, and zero opportunities for Congressional Progressive Caucus members to discuss their eminently more sensible budget. Nope---it's all Ryan all the time and everyone else can suck on it.

Bush tried to gut Social Security. The current GOP-led House actually voted recently to gut Medicare. A long-overdue tax hike on the rich is off the table. Taxpayer subsidies for oil companies already awash in profits are sacrosanct. New abortion restrictions, killing Public Broadcasting and repealing the repeal of 'Don?t ask don?t tell' suddenly replace "Jobs Jobs Jobs" on their radar screen. The debt ceiling is a toy. Oh, and their Big Responsible GOP Spending Cut Bill increased spending by billions. Heckuva job!

Zuckerman's phrase "hypocrisy on stilts" seems almost quaint now. This is thug economics. If Republicans really love America and want the republic to thrive, there's only one feasible option they have: build a fortress of solitude somewhere and "go Galt" before they cause our economy to go belly-up.

Cheers and Jeers starts below the fold... [Swoosh!!] RIGHTNOW! [Gong!!]

Source: http://feeds.dailykos.com/~r/dailykos/index/~3/-qd-W1Hs9iM/-Cheers-and-Jeers:-Tuesday

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