Our Very Serious People can't raise taxes on rich people. They can't raise taxes on corporations. They can't allow the current "Lil' Boots" tax cuts to expire. They can't institute a VAT or or any other form of taxation. At all.
They can't do anything that would take a dime away from the Owners that might help dig us out of the hole they've led us to, and put us in.
They can reduce "entitlement" spending. They can put restrictions and changes to Medicare and Social Security benefits on the table -- and, once the line has been crossed in altering these programs, Little Rupert and the Very Serious People's echo chamber will broadcast, 24 X 7: There Is No Longer A Third Rail In American Politics.
Then, after the usual "One Friedman Unit" has passed and it's assumed the stupid Lumpen voting population has forgotten all about it, there will be continuing discussion driven by the Rethugs for "transition" to a "more equitable" voucher system that could replace Medicare (which they tell us is bankrupt anyway, even if that's a lie), and to "provide alternatives" to Social Security (which they tell us will run out of money, soon, even if that's another lie) and "transition" the savings of Seniors to the safety and surety of the
Then, there's this: Digby quotes The Other (Non Joe) Klein:
[Ezra Klein:] Michael Gerson describes what top Republicans are saying will be in the final budget deal: A package of immediate and specific budget cuts; budget caps reaching out five years to reassure conservatives that tough budget decisions will be made in the future; Medicare reforms short of the House approach; no tax increases — a Republican red line — but perhaps additional revenue from the elimination of tax expenditures.Digby herself continues:
I’m hearing mostly the same thing. The debt-ceiling deal looks like it’ll be almost entirely composed of cuts and caps. Whatever revenues are in it will be token contributions, at best. There won’t be structural reforms to Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security, and there won’t be a pass at tax reform. The budget caps will make automatic cuts to spending if we’re not on a path to primary balance by 2014. The big question with the cap is whether it just makes automatic cuts to spending or it also raises taxes. It’s not obvious to me why the Democrats would fold on that last point, but they might.
What this means is that Democrats and Republicans have agreed that the “grand bargain” isn’t spending cuts for tax revenues, but entitlement reforms for tax revenues.
what this really means is that the Democrats wanted to make the parameters of the 2012 budget fight around entitlement cuts and allowing the Bush tax cuts to expire as scheduled. And apparently they want to be forced to cut spending radically in the second term. In other words, a big win for the austerity fetishists...My favorite part is that the Grand Bargain which Gerson and Klein describe, and Digby commented on, is just a trade -- allowing the Bush Tax Cuts (which primarily benefit the top ten per cent of our population) to expire in 2012, in exchange for massive spending cuts to social programs and "entitlements".
Obama will say that he's shown great leadership by being willing to rein in spending and will run on allowing the Bush tax cuts to expire as the Democratic "win" in the Grand Bargain --- but only if he's re-elected. The Republicans will say that Obama's profligate spending has exacerbated the unemployment crisis and that raising taxes when the economy is sputtering will make things even worse.
Who knows what people will believe?... whichever jersey you wear, and whatever problems you have with the policies, you'll be told to clap louder --- to drown out the sound of the plutocrats' laughter.
In this, all The Wealthy will give up is an easy mechanism (which Lil' Boots, one of their own, handed them) to increase their wealth. They only have to give up the potential to have Even More. They will not suffer reduction in their standards of living in any real way.
By comparison, The People will lose things which are concrete -- real services and benefits -- without which they will have to find a way to pay for them, while their wages remain stagnant.
Some will be able to pay for daycare as they work two or more jobs; for healthcare as it continues to rise in price and degrade in quality; for help to aging parents; for their children's college educations. Meanwhile, their ability to save for their own retirement or make major purchases will be reduced.
The Middle Class will continue to disappear. State governments and municipalities will continue to reduce services. The quality of living for most people will be reduced, in real and quantitative ways.
The most vulnerable in our society -- the elderly, the sick; children -- won't be able to afford to replace what they're losing. I guess they'll just die, or go hungry, or join a gang.
The People, not The Wealthy, will suffer: This is what in fact will occur by continuing to choose Austerity -- spending cuts, rather than taxation and economic stimulus to create jobs. Not that it seems to matter to our bright, clever, and wise Very Serious People. All they talk about is about what won't be done. Cut everything; keep the banks and investment houses afloat; make the goddamn peasants pay for it all. They want their precious entitlements, let 'em work for it and shut their damn mouths, if they love this place so much.
For you and I, the only alternatives we're really offered are "Hope" "God" and, "Patience", and perhaps a soup line or two. In the meantime, Shut up and don't complain. Mind your own business. You Might Not Be Able To Go Home Because You've Lost It, But You Can't Stay Here; Move Along. Millions will wake up every morning, thinking: I don't know how much longer I can go on.
Meanwhile, it'll be just another day in Paradise for our Owners -- So pretty; so soft and gentle, and filled with wonderful possibilities: Where shall we go today?
This the future Our Very Serious People are shaping. Enjoy!
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