My mind is boggled by something I stumbled on: a story about 150 million Americans are now in poverty or with low-income jobs.
This is by count of the Census Bureau, but using an alternative method to the traditional one. This one is designed to actually account for how people actually live, and is not, per law, meant to replace the traditional method. (Also, it actually minimizes poverty as it counts things like food stamps and Medicare as income.)
By the traditional count it's 100 million Americans - 1/3 of the nation -- in poverty or low-income jobs today. I can find links showing that in 2009 there were 43 million in poverty (Warning PDF, pg1) and 44 million in low income jobs (Warning PDF)
That's 87 Million people in poverty and low-income jobs four years ago. By the most conservative count, that increased by 13 million in the last four years. A little under 9,000 a day, spiraling down.
1/3 of Americans hanging by their thumbs by the conservative count; 1/2 by the realistic count.
Now, I'm sure that there are charts and bar graphs which can justify the President's repeated use of "recovery" and "poised for progress." But there's nothing in the real world, even vaguely, to justify such delusions. We're a lot closer to Depression than we are to the imagination of the DC Bubble.
Europe's reeling from Austerity; China and India are slowing down... There's no serious, and hardly any mock, efforts at creating a massive number of Good Jobs in the US. That's been abandoned. Actually, never even held.
(The current budget's proposed $50 billon for infrastructure fixing is a good idea, but about 1/20th or less of what our infrastructure needs require. And only a fraction of that in terms of what the people as a whole need. The best part of this, though, is it makes it more likely the Republicans will reject the President's budget: they want to do nothing at all, not even a hint, of Job Creation.)
When the President says "we must change to compete in the global marketplace" that means compete with slave-labor, or close enough, as far as wages. Job Creation here would block wage decline, so that's something for when we are working for a few dollars a day, as every Neoliberal and Conservative knows.
What all this means is that a) the safety-net is now more important to more people than it was just four years ago, and b) for as long in the future as you care to look, it's going to be more important to more people. The Economic Health of the people is guaranteed to grow worse from here.
So why concede one iota to Wall Street's demand that we sacrifice the innocent on the Altar of Austerity? We have not only proof, but now even the IMF and other Scamsters in the Banking world confirming that Austerity of any sort HURTS the economy (contrary to their previous notions).
We have actual experience now that debt and deficits don't decrease in the Austerified countries, but grow.
Chained CPI will clearly make everything Economic, including debt and deficits, much worse than we have them now.
The idea that the President wants to look like a Very Serious Person by compromising with the Crazed Republicans (who make no secret of wanting to cut our throats, his included) is supremely pathetic when it makes him look, instead, like a man who can neither do simple arithmetic; nor notice what follows Austerity; nor that near half of the human beings in America will suffer literal, by no means metaphorical, pain from such cuts.
Scarier, Obama looks hungry to cut the safety-net. He was so hungry for it, he dragged out Ronald Reagan's idea of "Sequester" to mollify the Republicans over an earlier budget fight. The President might be playing the Political Optics angle in the little world of DC, but the Republicans are playing to win their goals in every home in America.
So now we are living with Sequester. (That is: suffering, getting broker, or dying, as the case may be.)
People call his Dancing with Republicans "kabuki" confusing DC Bubblehead Optics with real life. It's the wrong Japanese word they reach for though. They're wanting "seppuku."
Maybe Republicans won't offer up a modicum of tax increases which will make Obama's Grandiose Delusional Bargain possible. Maybe they will, and count on Obama to be able to get just enough Blue Dogs on board so they can share the blame. (They can reward their Rich after the hold both Houses. Obama will surely want to look reasonable when they offer the "Subsidize the Rich Even More Act" by whatever name.) Pelosi and Reid have already signed they'll do what they can to help dismantle the safety net if the President wants it.
In either case, the die is already cast. "The Democrats tried (alternate: actually) cut your Social Security" ads are already in production, and we all know it.
We'll be able to put out ads "But we didn't really mean it." Guess which the bleeding humans, most low-info voters, will take as true?
Okay, the President has done all that's possible to accommodate the Republicans. Even to the point of trying to hand them the voting public in 2014, making the House even more powerful for them and maybe losing the Senate.
So he can look reasonable. Compared to Republicans who haven't looked reasonable except to the 20% from Wall Street and Blue-Eyed Jesus fanatics for decades. (Hint: doubtful He had blue eyes and blonde hair.)
Now, since the voting public knows that we are in a desperate situation which is spiraling further down all the time, you'd think a serious, a capable, politician would have noted some things. Even if he didn't give a hoot about actual economic reality.
72% want a Massive Federal Jobs Stimulus right now, and the deficit can go take a flying... leap.
70% want to leave Social Security alone.
Instead of waiting for Republicans to propose tax cuts, why not insist on a tax on derivatives? Make them defend the Banksters America hates.
We'd clearly end up with Democratic majorities, better policies, actual fixing of problems we face if the President, and the Dem leadership, cared to do what the voters want.
Instead of compromising with Republicans, trying to make them look bad, by cutting your nose off, why not make Republicans look bad by having them refuse to deliver what people want; having them attack what people want safe?
There's no sane reason. No sane and above-board reason, that's for sure.
Again, the Republicans might not play let-him-rope-a-dope-himself this time. There's three more years of budgets and debt ceilings where the President can keep pushing for Wall Street's dream; for damaging the Economy.
He has to be burned so hard on this, by the public, and by our too few Congressional allies, that pushing this crap never crosses his mind again.
Here's the funny part (in a rueful sense) about this "chained-CPI" in place of the current Consumer Price Index being used, currently stated as less than 2%. If we used the rules in place in 1990, inflation runs about 5.5%. The rules of 1980 have us at about 9.8%.
The new rules have it that when, say, steak goes up 10%, well, you'll go to chopped meat, and thus, not be spending any more money! And when chopped meat goes up out of reach, you'll use hamburger helper. And it's all the same thing!!!
It's full of bullshit substitutions like that.
Now think of that! Our current method of calculation is a trick, pushed by Democrats and Republicans alike for twenty years, to deceive and cheat the people. (And to make all the inflation-tied programs cheaper.)
And now here we are arguing over a fraction of one percent when the objective situation is much more dire for people, especially people on fixed and marginal incomes.
That's routine now, this deceiving the people with official statistics. Also routine is the hiding of politician's true agenda. I doubt there's more than you can count on both hands in DC Bubbleland who have our interests at heart. Who even know what our interests are.
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PS: My thanks to the amazing Roger Fox and all the links and info he's provided me. Actually, all of us. The chained-CPI will negatively affect tens of millions of Americans immediately. And, if not now, eventually, almost every single one of us. For the rest of our lives.
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DailyKos Blogathon -- Week of April 8th
(All times are Eastern, diaries published by the Pushing back at the Grand Bargain group)
Monday, April 8
10:00 a.m. Roger Fox
12:00 noon eXtina
2:00 p.m. Guest crosspost by Yves Smith
4:00 p.m. Horace Boothroyd III
6:00 p.m. slinkerwink
8:00 p.m. joedemocrat
Tuesday, April 9
10:00 a.m. Guest crosspost by Bill Black
12:00 noon Livestream Event diary/Team
2:00 p.m. joe shikspack
4:00 p.m. Roger Fox
6:00 p.m. Priceman
8:00 p.m. TomP
Wednesday, April 10
11:00 a.m. Liveblog budget announcement press conference
12:00 noon Words in Action
1:00 p.m. bobswern
2:00 p.m. One Pissed Off Liberal (OPOL)
4:00 p.m. Puddytat
6:00 p.m. Tool
8:00 p.m. SouthernLiberalinMD
Thursday, April 11
10:00 a.m. Letsgetitdone
12:00 noon CitizenofEarth
1:00 p.m. Words in Action
2:00 p.m. Liveblog event diary
3:00 p.m. LeftHandedMan
4:00 p.m. Unitary Moonbat
6:00 p.m. cosmic debris
8:00 p.m. angelajean
Friday April 12
9:00 a.m. 2LaneIA
10:00 a.m. joanneleon
11:00 a.m. Roger Fox
12:00 noon jamess
1:00 p.m. joejoejoe
2:00 p.m. ek hornbeck
3:00 p.m. Seneca Doane
4:00 p.m. Vetwife
6:00 p.m. Jim P
7:00 p.m. teacherken
7:30 p.m. Horace Boothroyd III
8:00 p.m. Roger Fox
* If you would like to join the blogathon, contact joanneleon or Lady Libertine by kosmail.
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1. Call your senators and representatives and tell them "Hell No!" with a priority on contacting senators. U.S. Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121. You can find email contact information here
2. Contact the White House and tell them "Hell No!". Switchboard: 202-456-1414. Email contact page is here.
3. Petitions. There are a number of petitions available. Choose from the following or preferably sign them all.
a. White House petition calling for no cuts to Social Security.
b. AFL-CIO petition calling for no cuts to Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and calling for more jobs, repealing the sequester and ending tax loopholes for the wealthiest individuals and corporations.
c. Sen. Harkin's petition telling Pres. Obama not to cut Social Security.
4. Social Media. Share this diary and promote this blogathon on Facebook and Google+ using the buttons at the top of the diary. Send this out on Twitter and add the hashtags #HellNo and #NoGrandBargain.
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Blogathon diaries you might have missed
Monday:
Hell No! #NoGrandBargain: "Pushing back at the Grand Bargain" by Roger Fox
Hell No! Chained CPI will reduce eligability for EITC #noChainedCPI by Roger Fox
Hell No! Dan Pfeiffer: "The President's Budget Shows That He is Serious About Solving Deficits" by eXtina
Guest Crosspost, Yves Smith: Obama Wants to Be the President Who Rolled Back the New Deal by Yves Smith via joanneleon
Hell No! Stop crushing the poor by Horace Boothroyd III
Hell, No! Social Security Contributes Nothing To Deficit by slinkerwink
Hell No! No Grand Bargain: Chained CPI: Social Security Means So Much To So Many by joedemocrat
Tuesday:
Bill Black: “Wall Street Uses the Third Way to Lead its Assault on Social Security” by Bill Black via joanneleon
Hell No! Livestream. Petition delivered to White House. Millions of signatures. 12:30pm by Lady Libertine
Hell No! No Grand Bargain. Are "Progressives" Destroying the New Deal? by joe shikspack
#HellNo ! #ChainedCPI : $65 billion income tax increase on working families #noChainedCPI by Roger Fox
Hell No! Chained CPI is a Cut. You Either Care About People or You Don't. by priceman
Hell No! No Votes or Money To Dems Who Vote To Cut Social Security. by TomP
Wednesday:
Hell No! No Grand Bargain Liveblog 2014 Budget press conference by joanneleon
Hell No! No Grand Bargain: Are We At War With Our Own Neoliberals? by Words In Action
Hell No! “Progressives Rage...Over Plan to Cut Social Security” (Pt. 1 of 2) by bobswern
Hell No! Pam Martens: “Progressives Rage...Over Plan to Cut Social Security…” (Pt. 2 of 2) by bobswern
Hell No! There's No Way to Vote Against Goldman Sachs by One Pissed Off Liberal
Hell No! Hands Off Social Security - This Has Gotten Personal by Puddytat
Hell No! Expand Social Security - Don't Cut It by Tool
Hell No! "Do You Think That Democracy Is Part of the Problem?” Attacks on Soc Security& Democracy by SouthernLiberalinMD
Thursday:
Hell No! The Ultimate Pushback against the Grand Bargain by Letsgetitdone
Hell No! Obama & The War on Seniors by CitizenOfEarth
Hell No! No Grand Bargain. Death of the Third Way: Son of Plutocracy by Words In Action
Hell No! Liveblog: Joint press conference AFL-CIO, House Progressive Caucus, Sens. Sanders & Harkins by joanneleon
"Hell no!" Why Toss 'Enrage the AARP' into an Already Tough 2014 Haul As Is? by LeftHandedMan
Hell No! I Am A Loco-Foco by Unitary Moonbat
Hell No! to Chained CPI: Defending the People’s Pension by cosmic debris
A Military Wife's Honest To God Opinion on the Grand Bargain. by angelajean
Friday:
Hell No! Joe Biden in Iowa 2015 by 2laneIA
Hell No! Lieberman told us why Social Security must be cut by joanneleon
Hell No ! Chained CPI cuts Head Start, CHIPS, WIC, SNAP by Roger Fox
Hell No! to 'Fix the Debt' Corporate Re-Patriots by jamess
Hell No! Growing up Grand Bargainy: The 1980s by joejoejoe
Hell No! A Fail On Every Level by ek hornbeck
Hell No! I Can't Sell This $hit to Voters! by Seneca Doane
Hell No ! Seniors and Vets Will not be hung out to dry by Vetwife
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