We on the purist professional left have been pointing out a little detail for the last couple of years. No matter how far right you are willing to go, no matter how many concessions you are willing to give; you cannot go far enough for Republicans unless you capitulate., and then again they just might once again change their minds.
OK, OK; so we wanted ponies, yet Republicans want to turn them into glue. How have we got to the point where Medicare and Social Security were even mentioned at the table?
We all pay for social security; it is not some form of welfare, and medicare costs are rising at half the rate of private insurance. The obvious way to strengthen social security was to raise the threshold, the obvious way to strengthen Medicare and lower health cost across the nation was to make it available to all.
We gave away in an act of bipartisanship an extension to all the tax cuts that helped balloon the deficit in the first place whilst saying next time, you'll see, we will show them that we mean business.
The mere mention of raising revenues causes such screams of indignation from the radical right that even corporate jets have become sacred cows, and we still give out subsidies to the most profitable of corporations.
The debate has become a farce, the left has been totally ignored and concessions given with total disregard to our points of view. The President may well ask to write to all in congress, I suppose it will have to be something other than a I told you so..
Every move to compromise over the last few years has lead to only one result, we end up handing out more than we can ever recover.
In the name of Austerity we are prepared to:
1] Slash every entitlement program out there and smash the middle class.
2] Throw women's health care out the window by allowing Republicans to use the no public funding for abortion distraction.
3] Reward private education whilst decimating the public sector and throwing the teachers out.
4] Make people work longer; even though unemployment is high and wages are stagnant.
Yet as we have said many times before "what concessions have the other side made?"
Hmmmmm...
Hmmmmm.
Well:
If we don't defend Medicare and Social Security.
If we don't defend unions bargaining rights.
If we don't encourage a fairer society by taxation.
If we don't fight for women's rights.
If we give away the wealth of the land to bankers by bailouts and the uber rich by tax cuts.
Then who are we?
What differences can we laud at the next election?
I'm having trouble just with, those on the other side are just plain crazy.
The President may well ask us to write letters to congress, I hate to remind him that many of us have been doing so for quite some time; and he should check his post.