To get to that stage, the next step in the sabotage has to be continued high unemployment with the added stink of unemployed Americans losing their benefits and health insurance (no COBRA subsidies). In the simplest terms, the economic ripple effect will radiate concentrically into a decline in consumer spending, increased foreclosures, a lag in the house market and so forth. And due to a lethal mixture of Republican cynicism, voter ignorance and traditional media hackery, the president will ultimately be blamed for the continued pain — paving the way for Wingnut Republican President X and mission accomplished.

Bob Cesca, Huffington Post

Humans have a staggering capacity for denial and rationalization; otherwise it would not be possible for today’s Republican Party to exist. I’ve listened to their rationale as they posture in Congress, and now I read the echoes of those thoughts here, on Huffington Post, and I’m forced to come to the conclusion that there is no ethical argument for how a human being can support today’s Republican Party.

Bush and his criminal Republican cronies doubled the federal deficit and raped our country, and then paid billions to the perpetrators while sending 30 million American citizens to the unemployment line . . . and now those same Republican elitists have become budget conscious and fight to deny help for the very people whose lives they turned upside down.

Of course, the Republicans will vote to support military spending or subsidize Big Oil, but then they turn around and block stimulus for the economy and help for unemployed Americans. They contend that the deficit is such an issue that it cannot be ignored, but as always, their concern is selective.

The truth of the matter is that WW2 ended with the federal debt at 122% of the GDP. We’re presently at around 94%. We climbed out of debt after the war by raising taxes on the rich. Obviously, the rich don’t want that, so we debate stupid notions like — quit spending.

This is the new Republican prescription, even though cutting spending right now, in the middle of a recession with double-digit unemployment would be the worst possible medicine. We don’t need to cut; short term, we actually need to spend more. What ended the Great Depression was government spending. That spending did not climb to levels sufficient for a recovery until WW2 broke out, but once that happened jobs were created and the depression came to an end.

We can cut spending, and if we do, the economy will eventually recover, but average Americans need to ask themselves, “What will the recovered nation look like?” The answer is: with the rich even richer and the middle class closer to extinction.

This is all about Republican sabotage, and the worse things get, the better the Republican’s chance to regain power in November. The bottom line is that, if you’re part of the middle or lower class, they don’t give a flying fuck about your wellbeing. So, suck it up America — the wealthy will weather the storm without hardship, but they need your sacrifice to bring about a new normal — a new America without the nuisance of a middle class — a Republican America.

It would be easy for Progressives — even with the best of intentions — to fumble the growing debate on the federal deficit.

Robert Creamer, Political organizer, strategist and author

I wish this article could be mandatory reading for all Americans. It is a lucid narrative describing the current economic situation in the United States and a credible means by which progressives can advance their vision.

Mr. Creamer provides 6 solid rules for how progressives should approach the deficit, starting with the notion that they must acknowledge the inadvisability of protracted long-term deficit spending. In his words, progressives “should make it completely clear that we share the view that long-term deficits must be brought under control — the real question is how.”

On the topic of how, Mr. Creamer suggests that we must select a path based upon how it will affect our success at creating widely shared economic growth. This criterion is not only about how to create the most growth, but also how the growth will be distributed. One of his more salient points is that, “Controlling the long-term budget deficit is not an end in and of itself. It is a means to an end.” Unless you have an aversion to the facts, I think you have to agree with his assertion that the failure of the economic policies of the Bush administration stemmed from a single-minded push to serve only the wealthiest of Americans.

His third rule is to push for more government spending to create jobs. I know that this is difficult for people to swallow, but I agree that it’s exactly what’s needed. Mr. Creamer makes the point that the costs associated with a major portion of our national labor resource sitting idle far outweigh those incurred with running a deficit. I could not agree more. Not only are there the issues of lost goods and services, but also the direct costs of unemployment and welfare, along with other related costs such as crime and lost opportunity.

Rule number 4 speaks to the folly of conservative solutions to bring the deficit back in line. As always, they would have us cut Social Security or education, or anything else that will support further concentration of wealth to the very top. Of course this is exactly the type of wrong-mindedness that got us into our present mess. Cutting Social Security would not only be unethical but would also inhibit senior’s ability to be self-sufficient, which would just shift the costs, not spare them. And cutting education is just plain STUPID. It’s the same sort of myopic insanity that right-wing plutocrats espouse every time they open their mouths. None of the conservative solutions uphold rule #2, which would require that growth be shared.

Mr. Creamer’s rule #5 is so important that I need to quote it straight out: “To assure we meet this test, we must eliminate the confusion between investment and consumption in our federal budget.” The notion that all government spending is equivalent is just plain nonsense. That’s not the way it works in industry, and it shouldn’t be the way it works for government. There is a difference between investment and expenditure. When the federal government invests in things like infrastructure, energy, and research and development, it’s not only providing jobs but also enabling future increases in productivity. This is good medicine for the vast majority of citizens.

The final rule is essentially a call to arms. Progressives must stay on the offensive. Mr. Creamer cites multiple Republican offences of the recent past, including an indictment of the Bush neo-cons who brought us a trillion dollar war and a greed driven bank crash. He also warns that should the Republicans gain full power, they will do everything they can to privatize Social Security, destroy Medicare, and eliminate infrastructure and education spending. His  assessment should scare the conservative right out of you!

These are serious times. We’re bloodied and bruised, but we’ve survived the Bush era. It’s time for all patriotic Americans to unite. We know what the conservative agenda has in store for us. They essentially had carte blanche for the eight years leading up to the Great Recession they caused. Must we learn the lesson yet again? The Republicans want only one thing, and that’s further concentration of wealth amongst the American royalty. Unless you’re already a member, you can either help fight against their unethical advance of plutocracy or you can be their stupefied guppy. The choice is yours.