Tuesday, April 5, 2011

This "Path to Prosperity" is littered with landmines.


I was just watching Little Herman Munster's solution to A-merry-ca's budget problems. He calls his blue print "The Path to Prosperity". Little Herman wants to cut six trillion in spending from O's budget. (Because we all know that you black folks don't know how to spend money. I mean how many Cadillacs can you drive?)


Folks, make no mistake, Little Herman is going to give the business to almost 90% of the A-merry-can people to hook up a few of the republican's wealthy friends. (Think Koch brothers)


He says that his plan to...ahem ahem, revise Medicare and Medicaid, won't affect seniors over 55. But there will be some changes. Changes, of course, is a gross understatement. Folks, he would end Medicare and Medicair. (He would actually leave Medicaid to the states, so he would end it on the federal level.) Sorry grandma and grandpa, it's time to brush up on your greeting skills. Wal-Mart loves you guys. As for Social Security? You can kiss that good bye as well.


But, don't worry folks, if we adopt Little Herman's plan jobs will come back because corporations will be flush with cash and...wait, they are flush with cash now; where are the jobs? Anyway, thanks to Little Herman, we will balance the budget and insure that our children have a future...well, at least until we have to fight another war and spend all of our cash defending our shores against those evil Muslims, again.


I read a wonderful article today on the fight between the have and the have- nots in this country (h/t Greg Fuller), and you all would do well to read it as well:


"It’s no use pretending that what has obviously happened has not in fact happened. The upper 1 percent of Americans are now taking in nearly a quarter of the nation’s income every year. In terms of wealth rather than income, the top 1 percent control 40 percent. Their lot in life has improved considerably. Twenty-five years ago, the corresponding figures were 12 percent and 33 percent. One response might be to celebrate the ingenuity and drive that brought good fortune to these people, and to contend that a rising tide lifts all boats. That response would be misguided. While the top 1 percent have seen their incomes rise 18 percent over the past decade, those in the middle have actually seen their incomes fall. For men with only high-school degrees, the decline has been precipitous—12 percent in the last quarter-century alone. All the growth in recent decades—and more—has gone to those at the top. In terms of income equality, America lags behind any country in the old, ossified Europe that President George W. Bush used to deride. Among our closest counterparts are Russia with its oligarchs and Iran. While many of the old centers of inequality in Latin America, such as Brazil, have been striving in recent years, rather successfully, to improve the plight of the poor and reduce gaps in income, America has allowed inequality to grow.." [More]


One thing I didn't hear Little Herman talk about was trying to raise revenue instead of cutting everything in sight. I was thinking that maybe a good way to raise revenue would be to tax some of these corporations and the rich folks who own and run them. I mean if grandma is going to sacrifice a bottle of her trazodone every month, why can't one of these fat- cats sacrifice a country club membership?




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