No really, it doesn't seem to matter much. We vote and yet the minority rules now. Haven't gotten that feeling lately?
The survey showed 80 percent of Democratic voters, 67 percent of Independents, 53 percent of Republicans and 50 percent of Tea Party supporters said hiring was more important than closing the budget shortfall, the alliance said.
Source
But wait a minute, there were a lot of people who were concerned about the damn debt, about 60%. And yet all we heard was, cut, cut, cut. What about the Revenue, revenue, revenue side?
But one of the ways that a big majority want to do it is by increasing taxes for households with an annual income of over $250,000 — something that polls have consistently shown is the public preference, even going back to the debate in the lame duck session of Congress on whether the extend the Bush-era tax cuts to all Americans or whether to let them expire for the higher-income earners.
Source
Sensing a pattern here?
But what baffles me is why even bother with the damn polls if no one actually listens to us? We know it's rigged.
And...
I just can't stop thinking about the Tea Party Congressman Labrador explaining his duties in Congress and that he and some thirty other Tea Party congress people were sent to deal with the debt. They were the voice of the American people.
Well, let's talk about this for a second. We didn't create the problem. The problem has been created by the establishment of Washington for the last 30 years. The reason we have $15 trillion in debt is not because I was in Congress for the last 30 years, because of the people who have been here. And we, we came to Washington to change the way business was done. The American people have told us that they want us to change the way the business was done.
Meet the Press
Representative Democracy doesn't mean that less than 10% of one of the legislative bodies should dictate all the demands in a legislation. Especially when debt ceiling votes have never come with such demands as this one did.
And right now? Now is the NOT time to change how things are done while we face the largest fiscal crisis in our lifetime? When we have one in four children facing poverty, the highest number of our citizens on food stamps?
And guess what else he said?
REP. LABRADOR: That's actually one of the problems I have with the deal because I think it, it is opening the door for tax increases. I think there should be tax reform, and I think every member of the House of Representatives on the Republican side believes that there should be tax reform. I think every person should pay the same rate, I think it should be across the board, and I think it should be fair to all Americans.
HUH? How can it be fair for everyone if we all pay the same rate? Is this rational?
The second thing, their Republicans actually proposed to get rid of all the loopholes already, and the people in the media never talk about it. The Ryan budget that was passed overwhelmingly by the House majority, in the House, actually has a plan for getting rid of the loopholes. I am for getting rid of the loopholes. I think it's fundamentally unfair that GE paid no taxes this year, and I think most of the American people agree with me. But what we need to do is we need to lower tax rates, and we need to broaden the base so everyone gets treated equally.
See, the Tea Party can't have it both ways, they can't say they want to not raise taxes and close loop holes on big corporations and yet belittle the President when he proposes the exact same things. They cannot have it both ways.
And this is where the insanity comes in. Most Americans want taxes raised on the rich, they don't want to cute Medicare or Social Security (Which are solvent!) and most importantly, the last thing we should be doing is worrying about our debt as we struggle out of this "Great recession".
Austerity should be shunned in our vocabulary.
"If these people were rational policymakers, they would not focus on deficit reduction right now," said Neera Tanden, chief operating officer at the Center for American Progress. "They would focus on stimulus right now."
Huffington Post
But we don't seem to be dealing with the rational or those who can govern rationally.
This is not rational. Saying that everyone should pay the same rate is not rational because not everyone is the same. It's the same bullshit meme I see when people yell that fifty percent of Americans pay NO TAXES, which is impossible (and yes, I know then they get sophisiticated and say, 50% pay no income taxes, but they still pay FICA, etc. if they are making money). But hell, if you buy something, which you have to do, if you buy gas, if you buy anything that's a non-taxable item, YOU PAY TAXES.
"If these people were rational policymakers, they would not focus on deficit reduction right now," said Neera Tanden, chief operating officer at the Center for American Progress. "They would focus on stimulus right now."
And on top of it, they didn't vote for policymakers it seems but the tea party based on lies and more lies about the debt (all you have to do is hear them talk about how the debt has grown under Obama, never mind that during a recession revenues go down because people are not only making less money, they are spending less).
But what the hell are we doing?
Tonight Rachel Maddow reported record profits again in the private sector and yet here:
While Washington lauds its cuts, the traditional arguments in favor of deficit reduction probably have never been weaker than they are right now.
None of the economic signs that augur for deficit reduction are remotely visible. Quite to the contrary: A high unemployment rate, enormous unused capacity, inadequate market demand, cheap capital and record-low interest payments, incipient deflation, crumbling infrastructure and underwater homeowners all point to this being an ideal time to increase government borrowing -- to invest in infrastructure, provide debt relief to homeowners and generally increase demand and create jobs.
With American banks and other businesses sitting on trillions of dollars they refuse to lend or invest, one can hardly accuse deficit-spawned borrowing of "crowding out" private loans. And with people lining up to lend money to the U.S. government for long periods of time at near record-low rates, one can hardly argue that the deficit is driving up interest rates.
Yes, it should be jobs and more jobs, but with the stamp of approval on austerity and not audacity, how the hell are we going to push for investing in jobs now?
But why bother with polls, Washington does really care about what we think, they don't care about what we want.
And the Tea Party? They are really a minority with a mission and they do not represent what I want, not in the least.
I feel like the cat with the cone of shame and tonight I am just an onlooker. I can't seem to find any sense in my world.