This is where you get prominent Republicans like Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour on TV saying things like this:
"The American people do not like Obama's policies," Barbour told anchor Harry Smith. "They don't like all of this outrageous spending. They don't like running up the deficits. They don't like piling trillions of dollars of debt on our children and grandchildren, and they don't think it works. They think it's been bad for the economy, that it has made it harder to create jobs.
Let's for a second say that it is all true. That the people really do want us to cut the federal budget to reduce the deficit and perhaps bring down the debt, the problem here is what do you cut? We are running a trillion dollar plus deficit. The Bush administration was at least honest when they said that there would be deficits as far as the eye can see.
When you engage in a two wars without raising taxes, but rather cut them, then you have to barrow all of that money. Every single squandered penny in Afghanistan and Iraq has been borrowed. This has left us with a huge hole in our federal bank account.
It meant that when the economic crisis hit, again thanks to Republican policies, there was no choice but to borrow billions more. When there is no demand from business or consumers, then the place where demand must be created is the government, and that is done by deficit spending.
Instead we are likely to see from Republicans a series of austerity measures. We will hear about the need to cut programs and services across the board. Things like SChip program that helps cover low income children across the nation. Things like food stamps (already cut but look for more), things like unemployment extensions (even though there are no jobs for the folks currently looking for work), things like school funding, and infrastructure projects will also see cuts or cancelations (like the second train tunnel that Gov. Charlie Christ has flushed 600 million in already spent money). Where you won't likely see cuts is in military spending. Sure a few of the braver Republicans are talking about it in luke warm terms, but don't hold your breath.
This is where the rubber meets the road. It was the wealthy in this country who funded the Republicans and pushed the tax cuts. It was the wealthy in the country who took advantage of the lax regulatory environment enacted by Republicans to create the defects which caused the financial collapse. And it is the wealthy in this country who are going to suffer the least in an austerity regime.
The little guys, you know folks like you and me, are the ones who did not get rich in the early ought's. We are the ones who had our income be stagnant for years and years, then took a good kick to the pants when the economy went tits up. We are also the ones that are going pay if the Republicans get their way, in any amount, on spending.
Things that we all depend on as average citizens are going to be on the chopping block. The Federal aid that allows us to have schools that don't have 45 kids per classroom. Funding that allows cities to keep policy and fire fighters at current levels. Funding that allows health inspections to continue. If you think that won't be cut, just take a look at Colorado Springs which stopped inspecting day care centers and public pools last year.
The rich don't need to worry. They can send their kids to private schools, they can swim in private pools and they can afford health insurance. Austerity will just be part two of the great screwing over that the American public has been getting from the Republicans.
Part three is the will be the drag that cutting this spending while making 4 trillion in tax cuts permanent will add to the recovery, while, of course, giving the rich another massive pile of borrowed money. It is part and parcel of the Republican plan to keep cutting taxes and then use the deficit to insist we cut spending. Grover Norquist has proudly said he wants to starve the Federal government until it is small enough to drown in a bathtub. Leaving Mr. Norquist's sick eliminationist fantasies aside, the plan is moving forward, with the cry of "Smaller Government".
It has the possibility of getting very, very ugly for the United States in the next couple of years. Even if none of this comes to pass, there is every indication that Republicans will dig in their heels and force a government shut down. That will be as nearly big a disaster for the regular gal as a full on austerity program. And it really won't affect the rich that much.
Nothing the Republicans are proposing will create jobs or lift the economy out of its lack luster recovery. All serious economists say that cutting spending will make things worse, but reality was never much of problem for Republicans. Perhaps after getting the third round of being screwed by Republican policy the people of the nation will turn their anger in the right direction, at the fat cats and any and all politicians who look to their interest first. The Tea Partiers have been bambozzled. They are going to get fleeced again by their own party. The sad thing is we all have to go along for the ride.
The floor is yours. |
