Here’s an excerpt from an article by Shamus Cooke that offers his explanation – and a credible one – of why politicians are manufacturing the budget crisis. In my opinion, it certainly isn’t concern about spending a few hundred billion, considering these same politicians handed over trillions of dollars to big investment banks and, even now, can’t account for where that money went.
So why the big debate over raising the debt ceiling for a few hundred billion that would benefit millions of Americans? Cooke’s main reasoning is quoted below. Read the full article “Trillion Dollar Hair Splitting: The Fake Budget Debate in Washington D.C.” at GlobalResearch.ca.
Better yet he goes on to explain why resistance to big cuts at the local level is so important to stopping them. Read on.
“As the President wages a “battle” over secondary budget issues, such as how best to make $4 trillion in cuts, the main issues are already agreed upon. Economist Richard Reich helps explain:
“…the Democratic leadership in Congress refuse to refute the Republicans’ big lie — that spending cuts will lead to more jobs. In fact, spending cuts now will lead to fewer jobs. They’ll slow down an already-anemic recovery. That will cause immense and unnecessary suffering for millions of Americans”
“The president continues to legitimize the Republican claim that too much government spending caused the economy to tank, and that by cutting back spending we’ll get the economy going again.” (April 10, 2011).
This two-party big lie is not an accident, but an expression of a deeper held belief: that the U.S. government must be directed to meet the needs of the super wealthy who own U.S. corporations. Holding this belief requires that you gut social programs (since corporations hate paying taxes) and privatize everything publicly owned (so corporations can own them for profit).
As long as both Democrats and Republicans agree to these deeper beliefs, the country will shift continually to the right, with social programs and living standards evaporating. However, the stronger that labor and community groups unite and fight to save these social programs, the harder will it be to cut them; out of such a struggle will emerge practical solutions to solving the deficit problems of the country, such as dramatically increasing the taxes on the rich and corporations so that jobs can be created and social programs saved.”
Shamus Cooke is a social service worker, trade unionist, and writer for Workers Action (www.workerscompass.org).
You may also like Prisons For Profit, Life of Water; Water of Life.
Interesting prospect for this country! Privatize most everything: jails, post offices, social services, health care, and run it FOR PROFIT. If the profit cannot be seen, raise service fees until profitable.
The US Postal Services has taken the first such step, see here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/postal-service-names-3700-post-offices-that-could-be-closed/2011/07/26/gIQARk3tbI_story.html
The article discusses the whole notion of postal services in terms of protability, less as a service. The smaller units will be morphed into some local businesses as a clerk. Next step will be a larger unit running as a private business under contract with USPS.
Of course this started a long time ago when the US Postal Services was spun off as a corporation owned by the US Governement, and became subject to the profit/loss considerations of any other business, while a government service is not subject to these considerations.
I wonder how you run Foreign Policy as a profitable business 🙂
I’m not complete opposed to running everything as a profit center, but it’s the Inefficiency and CORRUPTION that make people angry. CEO’s salary should not be 100x that of a worker they don’t do 100x the work. Researchers, Teachers, and College Professors should make the most money in the US if the US is going to survive as a nation.
Right now, I’m starting to believe that maybe the Maoists are correct, Democracy is just a ‘phase’ between anarchy and dictatorship. There are hundreds of powerful countries standing in the distances like hungry predators waiting for the US to fail.
JM, Correct – it’s inefficiency and corruption – but they’re BUILT IN to a system that benefits elites at the expense of others. Capitalism needs regulation, otherwise we have a “free” market but not a FAIR market. When we deregulate (as in the repeal of Glass-Stegal for the financial industry) we allow corrupt companies to wipe out companies that run their businesses fairly. Also, without regulation, companies externalize their costs to the public (infra-structure, environment costs, health insurance, etc.) making their product costs truly “free” – but not in the way we’d like.
As far as democracy goes — it’s certainly not the end-all of governmental systems. “Majority rules” isn’t always “majority right.” Further, in our democratic system not everyone has a vote. Who votes for children, the sick, those with disabilities? How are their voices heard? On the other hand, democracy is better than many (though not all) other options.