Excerpt: "The right-wing bullies are emboldened. They will hold the nation hostage again and again. ... All the while, he and 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."
Portrait, Robert Reich, 08/16/09. (photo: Perian Flaherty)
Right-Wing Bullies Hold Nation Hostage
09 April 11
Why the Right-Wing Bullies Will Hold the Nation Hostage Again and Again
hen I was a small boy I was bullied more than most, mainly because I was a foot shorter than than everyone else. They demanded the cupcake my mother had packed in my lunchbox, or, they said, they'd beat me up. After a close call in the boy's room, I paid up. Weeks later, they demanded half my sandwich as well. I gave in to that one, too. But I could see what was coming next. They'd demand everything else. Somewhere along the line I decided I'd have to take a stand. The fight wasn't pleasant. But the bullies stopped their bullying.
I hope the President decides he has to take a stand, and the sooner the better. Last December he caved in to Republican demands that the Bush tax cut be extended to wealthier Americans for two more years, at a cost of more than $60 billion. That was only the beginning - the equivalent of my cupcake.
Last night he gave away more than half the sandwich - $39 billion less than was budgeted for 2010, $79 billion less than he originally requested. Non-defense discretionary spending - basically, everything from roads and bridges to schools and innumerable programs for the poor - has been slashed.
The right-wing bullies are emboldened. They will hold the nation hostage again and again.
In a few weeks the debt ceiling has to be raised. After that, next year's budget has to be decided on. House Budget Chair Paul Ryan has already put forward proposals to turn Medicare into vouchers that funnel money to private insurance companies, turn Medicaid and Food Stamps into block grants that give states discretion to shift them to the non-poor, and give even more big tax cuts to the rich.
There will also be Republican votes to de-fund the new health care law.
"Americans of different beliefs came together," he announced late last night. It was the "largest spending cut in our history." He sounded triumphant. In fact, he's encouraging the bullies onward.
All the while, he and 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.
Even before the bullies began hammering him his deficit commission already recommended $3 of spending cuts for every dollar of tax increase. Then the President froze non-defense domestic spending and froze federal pay. And he continues to draw the false analogy between a family's budget and the national budget.
He is losing the war of ideas because he won't tell the American public the truth: That we need more government spending now - not less - in order to get out of the gravitational pull of the Great Recession.
That we got into the Great Recession because Wall Street went bonkers and government failed to do its job at regulating financial markets. And that much of the current deficit comes from the necessary response to that financial crisis.
That the only ways to deal with the long-term budget problem is to demand that the rich pay their fair share of taxes, and to slow down soaring health-care costs.
And that, at a deeper level, the increasingly lopsided distribution of income and wealth has robbed the vast working middle class of the purchasing power they need to keep the economy going at full capacity.
"We preserved the investments we need to win the future," he said last night. That's not true. The budget he just approved will cut Pell grants to poor kids, while states continue massive cutbacks in school spending - firing tens of thousands of teachers and raising fees at public universities. The budget he approved is cruel to the nation's working class and poor.
It is impossible to fight bullies merely by saying they're going too far.
Robert Reich is Chancellor's Professor of Public Policy at the University of California at Berkeley. He has served in three national administrations, most recently as secretary of labor under President Bill Clinton. He has written thirteen books, including "The Work of Nations," "Locked in the Cabinet," "Supercapitalism" and his latest book, "AFTERSHOCK: The Next Economy and America's Future." His 'Marketplace' commentaries can be found on publicradio.com and iTunes.
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I haven't seen America this divided in decades...and its all about stupid ideology. Besides for a tiny (super-wealthy) percentage of your population, it isn't about the money - it's simply about who wants to be more right (no pun implied) than the other.
You used to be alternatively liked and hated but always envied. Now, the rest of the world looks at you with scorn. Truth.
Then we had WACO, the first time the government had used military force against its own citizens and murder 94 children. NEVER IN OUR HISTORY WOULD WE AS A PEOPLE EVER ALLOWED THAT TO HAPPEN, BUT WE DID.
Upon Clintons foundation, BUSH AND OBAMA HAVE BASICALLY FINISHED OFF THIS NATION WITH THE ENDING THE GLASS SEAGAL ACT UPON THE ADVICE OF THIS MAN ABOVE. A NEOLIB working with the neocons as CONTROLLED OPPOSITION (SEE 12TH PROTOCOL).
Fear and hate are what they sell to divide us up. Goebels laid out how to do this so the few elite would be save from our United front through division. Most of us are catching on now. For instance, it didn't take even 2 seconds of thought to see what Reich was trying to do. But we are waking up and we are beginning to unite, both left and right together. I see it all the time now.
We know the enemy is within our own walls of the kingdom. I suspect its the same in your country as well.
The National Guard was used against protesters during the 1960's, McArthur, his military and six tanks were brought in to burn out the camp of WWI veteran camps in D.C. who had been promised assistance in acquiring jobs and support. Many were then sent to Key West to work, only to be killed by the biggest hurricane to hit the U.S. Surrogates of U.S. military have brutalized thousands of citizens, including blacks and unions.
These military citizens went in without hesitation, against their own fellow citizens, just as was done with the Branch Dividian and others. Don't think it could not happen again, or even worse.
The 1 percenters want high unemployment with the masses facing starvation & homeless dying of curable diseases in the streets because then the people will accept whatever crumbs they offer under any conditions just to survive. Conditions will be worse than in the early 19th century, because then we had Constitutional rights.
BASICALLY IF WE DON'T STOP THEM NOW WE WILL BECOME THE MODERN DAY SLAVES! and since it is the domestic population not imported SLAVERY is legal under the original Constitution without amendments. WE MUST STOP THEM NOW!
If the Democrats won't stand with the people & tell us the truth we must spread the word throughout the nation ourselves. It is time again for 1968 style massive protests in every city, town & village.
It's time to get rid of the modern feudal system of economics & the divinity of the wealthy.
I haven't seen America this divided in decades...and its all about stupid ideology.
The reactionary right is surely about ideology, and they have been pushing their ideology for decades. While doing so, they have lulled many Americans into a trance.
Now is the time for effective leadership on behalf of the Republic and effective citizenship by patriotic Americans to rescue and defend the Republic from those who would be our overlords and masters.
This is a Republic and not a Plutocracy. We, the People, must keep it that way!
But that does not also make it necessarily true that the best way out of America's current malaise- and I don't think anyone is denying that- is to keep pouring "money" (i.e. private cartel 'Federal' Reserve notes) down the same old system, however helpful rearranging the percentages paid by certain economic classes into that system may be.
There's a big difference between the "conservatives" [neo-cons; myopic opportunists] on TeeVee and in Washingtoon these days, and the "conservative" [Constitutional ists; 'conspiracy theory' skeptical of big gov't] types. Its the difference between Insiders and Outsiders, and people who conflate the two are providing a highly inaccurate synthesis of other people's political beliefs.
The name of the game is not [or at least should not be] distortion. That (roads of distortion) is how American public society 'got into this mess in the first place'.
More debt is not going to solve the economic problem; and
More distortion is not going to solve the political problem.
Its difficult for people not to lie.
Its difficult for governments not to borrow money from Fractional Reserve (private cartel) bankers.
Then again it also used to be difficult for people of a certain class not to have slaves.
Time Marches On.
You can't possibly fathom how little I and millions of others care about what you think.
Don't worry - we've covered your Country's butt for generations and we'll continue to do so.
Unfortunately, especially evident in Congress, we've lost sight of the forest for the trees. There are many reasons for this, but the influence of corporate money is undeniable. The system, as it exists today, is thoroughly rotten. It doesn't appear that there is much chance of reforming this system any time soon. Thinga, I fear, are going to have to get far worse before real change is possible.
Kissinger is now an indicted war criminal for that piece of work. Someone needs to break Obama's mind control and he might make it. It depends on how long and how deep they went with him.
BREAK THE SPELL PROFIT!!! IT'S NOT TOO LATE!!!
We're with you man! You can fight this thing!
What is despicable is the ongoing game played out by just about everybody involved in governments, both state and federal. They know it is a game. We know it is a game. They will continue playing their very expensive game as long as they can get away with it.
I'm sorry Glen, but that's a cynical, lazy viewpoint. While the president is far from being a dictator and is "hemmed in" in many respects by many other political and social actors, he is still someone of enormous influence and visibility, with a "bully pulpit" as his main instrument of power. He can choose to use it for our betterment, or he can throw it to the dust bin, as President "Kumbaya" has done. Obama has not just abdicated his presidential powers, he has sabotaged the very ends and "change" that he touted as a candidate. In my mind, that makes him even more despicable than "Dubya."
Your statements pretty much back up mine, with the exception of declaring Obama abdicated his powers. I maintain he never had many. As I said. It is a game. The president has his role, but for the overall agenda, they all toe the line. Obama is following, in the pseudo-democrat style, the PNAC.
What people hate more than being lied to is being deceived and played for fools.
Thank you for your clear-eyed assessment of Obama. Now what is to be done?
Ann
You have very well encapsulated this gladhanding, "Uncle Tom" excuse for a president. He's pushed America far more to the right than either Clinton or Bush did since the entirety of Obama's presidency has been appeasement, capitulation, selling out and doing the bidding for some of the worst political thugs since the National Socialists. He's the best president the Repubs ever could hope to get. When he leaves (or is driven out) of the presidency, he'll probably angle for a well paying, prestigious place in some corporate think tank. The only "change I can believe in" now is what's in my pocket.
Now that shill can gallop around trumpeting how he stood up to the mean nasty Rs and prevented them from ruining the country. This will sell his reelection to those he needs. It will not fly with the rest of us. We must defeat this creep in 2012 because enough is enough.
Obama's base, deserted by Obama, stayed away from the 2010 polls in droves, and you see what THAT bought us.
I humbly submit that I am available and would run, but I have a dental that day. You know how it is.
Another more moderate candidate, but one who appears to have the necessary balls and guts is Ed Rendell, the former PA governor.
People across america have realized that it is plain theatrics between party actors (both republican and democrat) with only their own selfish interest at heart and no matter how each "side" bluster, they have systemically dismantled the social safety nets, much less the foundation for upward mobility for the lower and middle class in favor of soft money, if not hard money bribes of the super wealthy.
I usually enjoy writing, but to pretend otherwise is showing conditioning as an insider as well.
I hear a difference in his voice and see a difference in his eyes from before 11/2010.
Something weird is going on --- and it maybe in the Supreme Court! There is nothing constitutional about allowing corporations to have right of an individual when it comes to putting $$ into campaigns!
Scalia/Thomas -- both should step down. They were wined/dined and more by the Kock brothers b4 allowing those 2 to BUY our governemnt -- LOOK AT WISCONSIN.
Vote in 2012 -- -do not vote R or w all can ride pickup trucks shooting at --- just like in Libya.
Maybe somebody will beat up on Ryban TParty pimp -- He is taking more than a cup cake. Maybe somebody will wipe that smirk off Cantor's face too. Boner is a hopeless whore who is being bought off to "head the house" ---
WAKE up -- it's not about President Obama -- he is not g-d. It's the republicans (Remember 2001-2009?)
giraffee2012 I agree wholeheartedly. The posture, the speech and the apparent change of course toward the right just triggers my personal paranoia! Maybe I have seen too many movies but the man looks trapped in a cage. Control and power from behind the "throne" has long been accepted but the obvious fascist aspect of the bureaucrats in charge is indeed frightening. No wonder government didn't shut down this weekend. Just more TV drama for the sheeple.
"They" are imploding the country because the American Republic is or could be a resistance to a worldwide dictatorship of the secret super rich.
We are building our own prison and we don't even notice.
Obama is the third Bush Term. He does everything the right wants, gets beat up by them, and is begrudgingly defended by half the Democrats. Sheer Genius move by the plutocracy!!!!
I will be voting for the Ron Paul, Dennis Kucinich Ticket next time!!!!
or the "selfish wing"
or, better yet, the "inhumane wing"
I did my part to prevent that by not having any kids ;D
In 2012, the US will probably get for president a teabagger like Scott Walker who will push right wing reforms too far and provoke a backlash. Maybe after something like that the US will begin to try to regain control of its capitalist class. Thing don't look good, however. The capitalist thugs have been emboldened and they won't want to stop looting the wealth of the nation.
I think Obama may very well win in a landslide in 2012 precisely because those who control the media feel like they can depend on him to feed the wars ahead of everything else. They will support him.
(Did you see the RSN piece about how pro-war the NYT is?) And, after all, no matter how bad he is on the wars, and on Bradly Manning, and in all the ways Patricia Chang wrote about above----he is still palpably more intelligent than any other mainstream politician. Not more moral, but more intelligent.
So, perhaps in 2016 we'll get our teabagger and in 2020 we'll have a chance for peace and reconstruction?
I hope i'm wrong, and please correct me!
But i think for now the best we can do is support war-opposing candidates from any party in every election (including primaries).
Their own fiscal policy has been very stimulative over the past 30 years except skewed to spending on wars and tax cuts. It has driven a deep divide between rich and poor. In the end a phyrric victory.
At some stage the people will rise up directly through direct protest and at the ballot box although the latter depends on clean elections, which America really does not have, sadly.
I have always given credit to this consistently GOP bashed president but now call upon him to take a moral stand for what is right, or left, in this country. This cannot be accomplished from the Republican gutter but from a higher place of moral dignity. Stop these bullies now.
Tragically, though, the Union-based, post WWII jobs that fueled and sustained our middle class' growth have long since been shipped overseas - where they will stay. Ironically, their transportation costs abroad were financed by the the massive "job stimulating" Reagan and Bush tax cuts.
The nation's wealthiest 400 families' aggregate wealth now exceeds that of the 160 million Americans comprising the bottom half of our economy, and still the rich remain focused upon increasing their obscene hoard. For them, money is no longer a necessity. It is a way of keeping score, and workers, if complacent, are "consumables". If they are unionized & resistant to corporate predation, they are an enemy to be destroyed.
Two universal rules apply here:
1. Nobody lives at the end of a one-way cul-de-sac.
2. He who dies with the most toys . . . is still dead.
Number 1 is President Obama's FAILURE.
Number 2 is the PREVENTION of job growth and economic recovery from now until at least November, 2012.
Number 3 is the PROTECTION of the wealthy and big business - read campaign donors.
Number 4 is their SOCIAL AGENDA:
No unions
No abortion
Christianity as the state religion
The President and all thinking citizens need to recognize these objectives for what they are and respond appropriately if the collapse of this country is to be avoided. If the Rs win the United States loses!
Both the New Deal and union organizing have been labelled "communism" or "socialism" by the right. If you want to "get things right", then let's stop trying to alter the "facts" you claim to be interested in.
Now, you want to split hairs and make it "only about number 4"? Seriously, if you're not a corporate lawyer, you should be. Instead of saying, "uh, maybe you should just say number 3 is about reversing the New Deal, instead of number 4", you go off about how incorrect the comment is?
The comment that the gop wants to reverse the New Deal is the ACTUAL point of the comment, whether or not we're refering to "number 3" or "number 4".
Let me spell it out for you: DO YOU THINK THE gop SUPPORTS WHAT'S LEFT OF THE NEW DEAL?
Forget about the apathetic and elusive "center." They only exist in Main Stream Media land with their human interest stories on "middle America." They mean "dumb America." Sorry if it sounds "liberal elitist." Facts don't lie and they are on our side in this war.
Obama has spent so much time attempting to fellate the GOP he forgot about us.
They really need to be seen as vindictive, sore losers who would use any means at their disposal to get even!
They have no interest in humanity only adherence to their values... they are the fundementalist terrorists of our nation- fascist in operation and single-minded in their conceit that their winning way is the best outcome!
UNCHECKED UNREGULATED capitalism IS, however.
Also, most of your comments about how capitalism is allowing us to write sentences, not be enslaved, have electricity, etc. don't make any sense.
Tyranny is not the opposite of capitalism. In fact, the two often go hand in hand.
While we’re at it, what do you think IS the opposite of capitalism? Is it socialism? If it is, then I’m sure you must have a HUGE problem with the existence of corporations. Afterall, corporations do not represent capitalism. They are nothing more than socialistic enterprise, plain and simple. Obviously, you're against the existence of corporations, right? Otherwise, you'd be nothing more than an elitest hypocrite, and we know that can't be true.
I was going to respond to the rest of your comments until you called corporations a "socialistic enterprise." At that point, it occurred to me that you have no idea what the words that you throw around actually mean.
YOU put 2 and 2 together and arrived at 5. You filled in blanks that he left open. It IS my opinion that unchecked unregulated capitalism is the greatest evil on Earth. I never "qualified" my comment to say that it was his. IT IS ALL MINE.
Now, let's deal with the definition of a corporation (if you've bothered to keep reading THIS comment before replying):
"The most common form of business organization, and one which is chartered by a state and given many legal rights as an entity separate from its owners. This form of business is characterized by the limited liability of its owners..."
from investorwords.com/1140/corporation.html#ixzz1JKpEnuLB
I guess the legal definition of a corporation doesn't know what it's talking about either.
Duh, tell me what "limited liability" means professor? Down here in Realityville, it means that corporations don't pay ALL of the costs of doing business. In fact, MANY of those costs are SHARED by society.
i.e. SOCIALISM.
DEAL WITH IT.
Please "educate" me some more. Without limited liability, what costs (in more specific terms) could be incurred? Why would they be something that a corporation would want to avoid? If a company is not a corporation, would it be responsible for these costs? More importantly, if a corporation is not paying for these things, WHO IS?
I DON'T fail to understand that the accepted definition of "socialism" is "FOR A GOVERNMENT" (i.e. the BENEFITS ARE FOR EVERYONE since, unlike a corporation, a government is NOT a "person").
I ALSO DON'T fail to understand your idea that having, "anything over and above what the corporation can pay not be a debt" would be a good thing. For some reason, this same logic, that the government can enact laws which help individuals, only applies to individuals who own corporations with you. For some reason people like you consider it immoral to use public money to help individuals UNLESS they own a corporation.
cont.
I think you fail to understand that redistribution of the wealth that only is "for" the profit of private individuals at the expense of everyone else is completely immoral and un-American, whether or not you choose to see it as another version of socialism. The fact is that, at its core, the problem conservatives have with socialism is that it takes money away from one person and gives it to another person based on need. The very existence of corporations relies on that same math. The difference is all in who's benefiting and who's paying the bill.
Would you care to continue this conversation or are you done making yourself look like an elitest hypocrite?
I am not going into a detailed breakdown of the different types of business entities and the liability that occurs with each (or any) unless you pay for that legal advice. It would be helpful in the future if you would spend some time reading about how corporations work and understanding who pays the debts. It may also be of use for you to spend some time reading about political systems to further your understanding of the concepts.
Morality is an entirely separate subject and you should be careful about making assumptions as to others' thinking. There is a huge difference in what is Constitutional and what any one person thinks is moral (moral relativism anyone?), a distinction that appears to be lost on you.
What exactly stated was elitist or hypocritical? Again, your points will be better taken if you understand the words that you use and support your opinions with evidence.
Do you honestly think you have some monopoly on the facts of what corporations do? I didn't even BEGIN to approach the other forms of socialism associated with corporations (a.k.a. "corporate WELFARE"). I could have, but I didn't. I focused on trying to get you to answer a few simple questions. In sum, I wanted your answer as to who pays the bills that corporations are not responsible for, once their "limited" liability runs out. You couldn't do that. Instead I get a long-winded evasion.
I'd have a little more respect for your constant insults to my intelligence if you'd actually prove your point. Avoiding a simple question wasn't a very good way of doing that. That's seems to be an ongoing theme in your responses: say something is "patently false" and then don't bother backing up your comment with any facts other than further insults to the intelligence of anyone who disagrees with you.
cont.
By the way, "LEGAL ADVICE"? You've got to be kidding me!
So, apparently you ARE a corporate lawyer afterall? HILARIOUS! No, I won't be paying for your legal advice. I already pay for the "limited liability" of the corporations you want to defend as a an American citizen.
About "morality": PLEASE lecture me MORE about "moral relativism"!!! I LOVE IT! Coming from a conservative, the hypocricy is TOO RICH. You ARE an elitest, and YOU ARE a hypocrite. Your own words are ample proof.
Lucky for the individuals who were responsible that they were incorporated. With their "limited liability" they pretty much got away with murder.
By the way, THANKS SO MUCH for promising not to respond to me again!!!
Quit the carping. It is time to act. During his presidential campaign, Obama said "Make me do it", (bring pressure upon me, so I will have to act on your behalf).
Run, don't walk to your nearest investment bank—and shut their doors. Shut down the powers elite who are destroying our constitutional freedoms—our very life force. Do this and he will follow. Act now. More words are an excuse for inaction
I agree with Reich as always. He seems to be the only one (even more than Kruger) who consistently speaks the truth about our economic situation and the power plays involved.
BUT, PLEASE, IN THE NAME OF ALL THAT IS GOOD,
STOP CALLING the right "BULLIES"!
It just makes us look like wimps (formerly "*&$#$%"). If it's true that we're just a bunch of wimps (formerly "*&$#$%"), I propose we learn to fight and stop complaining about "bullies". Millions of Americans have visions of scrawny nerds with "kick me" signs on their backs being laughed at like George McFly. Is that what you want?
Personally, I'd rather win a fight that complain about how my opponent is stronger and tougher than me.
Apparently I'm the only one on the left who cringes whenever I hear people I agree with complaining of being "bullied".
Like if your house is flooding - "EVERYONE TO THE BASEMENT, QUICK!";
or to the "war on terror" - "LET'S ALL SAVE TIME BY TAKING AWAY OUR RIGHTS FOR THE TALIBAN" (bush liked your logic too)"
or to the "war on drugs" - "P A A A A R - T A A Y !!!"
or to the "war on AIDs" - "P A A A A R - T A A Y !!!"
I sincerely hope you're not a fireman. You'd likely put out the fire by counseling the victims to get used to the heat while pouring gasoline on them.
This reminds me of a Monty Python sketch about burrying a cat:
John Cleese: We just buried our cat. It took 11 hours.
Graham Chapman: Why so long?
Cleese: Well, it wouldn't hold still.
Chapman: It was still alive?
Cleese: Well, it was sick and we were going out of town for a few days, so we decided to bury it now, just to be on the safe side.
For some reason, I always took that was a joke. Now I know better.
Obama and the Democratic Party (that was elected on the wishes of a liberal base) is NOT figuratively a foot shorter than the republiklan party. In fact, it's BIGGER. It got beat up in the 2010 election because it refused to fight. It's getting beat up when it "governs" now for refusing to fight.
It's not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog. I played a little college football even though I was small for the position I played. It was partially due to the fact that, even in high school, I learned one of the things most football players learn early on. It doesn't matter whether you're the one getting hit or the one doing the hitting. Either way, it often hurts. Once you accept that there's really no way to play the game pleasantly, you start to anticipate and even appreciate the little pains from impact that are just part of the sport.
cont.
The Democratic Party doesn't want to get a little mud on its jersey. The republiklan party is emboldened by failure and defeat. They're itchin' for full body contact.
Robert Reich may have been small as a kid and may have been teased a little, but from where I stand, he's a badass!
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