America is in the midst of a national crisis that threatens to, at the very least, throw the country into another recession, if not a total economic depression. If ever there was a time not to care about something like the deficit, it is now, when the amount of government spending that will be needed to bring our country back to something that vaguely resembles “normalcy” is probably beyond your wildest imagination.
The fact that no one should give a shit about the deficit hasn’t stop Kentucky Senator and noted asshole Mitch McConnell from beginning to complain about the deficit when it comes to a (incredibly needed) new stimulus package. But make no mistakes; Mitch McConnell doesn’t give a single, solitary wet dookie about the deficit.
He didn’t give a shit about the deficit when George W. Bush started two unpaid for wars without Congressional approval. He didn’t give a shit about the deficit when the Bush tax added $1.6 trillion to the deficit. He didn’t give a shit about the deficit when Donald J. Trump also cut taxes on the wealthy, which all reasonable projections say will add another $1 trillion to the deficit.
McConnell, like most Conservatives, only pretends to give a shit about the deficit when doing so would help out people other than huge corporations and rich people. When it comes to universal health care, or the poor and middle class families in America surviving this pandemic, McConnell pretends that he cares.
He pretends he cares because the entire Conservative argument (so much as there is still anything resembling a decent reason to vote Republican other than “I am scared and either sort of prejudiced or outright racist”) revolves around the idea that “big goverment” can not solve the problems the country has. It does not matter that historically speaking, deficit spending, such as was done during the New Deal, has actually turned America’s economy around in big ways.
The second people start realizing that the government is able to do more than sit and do nothing for years on end is the second that McConnell’s position of power is threatened. McConnell’s only job is to sit in Congrress and stall any legislation that would sort of, kind of help the middle class. His job is to do nothing. His job is to be a monkey wrench thrown into a functional government to make sure that it does not function as intended, unless there are rich people to give tax breaks to or unjust wars to be fought. If Mitch McConnell’s job was to actually do shit, he would’ve gotten shitcanned years ago.
Anyone who actually gave a shit about the deficit would realize that the way you fix it would be to increase taxes. Republicans have made any raise of taxes a poison pill, which is why every election season, Democrats who should know better promise that they will not raises taxes on the middle class, which is stupid, pointless, and otherwise impossible for the vast majority of policies they want to enact. Republicans do not give a shit about the middle class, naturally; they just throw taxes on the wealthy on top of taxes on the middle class and hope the masses just hear the word “tax increase” and get mad about it. Bernie Sanders is probably the only politician in the country who is honest about tax increases, and we see where that got him.
Tons of sane economists agree that in order to avoid recession, deficit spending is a necessity. All the economic factors show that deficit spending in the short term won’t seriously harm the economy. People are dying and suffering, small businesses are shuttering, states are running out of cash, and the unemployment rate is fucking skyrocketing. And Yurtle the Turtle thinks now, in the midst of a crisis, is the time to hunker down and have serious conversations about the deficit? He’s seriously pondering out loud whether or not states should declare bankruptcy?
Yeah, fuck that. He doesn’t actually give a shit about it. This is a political calculation. McConnell’s job is to gum up the works and assure that we don’t get too comfy with the idea of the government actually doing what it’s intended do; ensure life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for all it’s citizens whether rich or poor, black or white, healthy or ill. His job is to be a well paid middle manager who sits around doing jack shit while everyone struggles around him. His job is to make sure the government doesn’t work, so that he and his Republican colleagues can go and tell their constituents that government doesn’t work. He does that job with staggering efficiency.
So, just in case you were thinking of giving a shit about the deficit, don’t. None of the assholes who are willing to let the rest of us sink into depression while the wealthy elite stay mildly insulated from harm don’t give a shit about it either.
I’m guessing that a depression, while wiping out a lot of the wealth of, let’s say the top 10% or even 20%, will not exactly have them eating out of dumpsters. Fuck the rest of us.
“just give me my money back”
It’s almost like all these red states with low taxes, less access to health care services due to not expanding Medicaid, and less regulation are actually a drain on the American economy or something.
Yeah, lets just look at who costs the government the most…
https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/economy/2019/03/20/how-much-federal-funding-each-state-receives-government/39202299/
Hear Hear!!! Well said. Mitch McConnell sucks and is a pox on humanity. It is imperative that we take the Senate.
The problem, as ever, is that right wing fucknuts like McConnell have done such a masterful job of sabotaging the public education system in this country that we now have a significant share of idiots that will believe anything that comes out of that shitbag’s mouth, and it doesn’t matter what the facts are. They’ll just blame the fact that their shithole states take more money from the feds than they send back on the blacks and the poors and the illegals dragging everyone down.
That’s exactly the problem. It’s no coincidence that red states have incredibly poor educational systems. It’s by design. It’s no coincidence that Cruella DeVos is trying to sabotage education in favor of “charter” schools and similar shit. I can’t speak for every red state, but here in Florida there is a consistent pressure to demonize public education, all the way up to the college level. Republicans transfer more and more money to the “charter” schools, with no oversight and the grift and corruption is unparalleled. We’ve got “charter” schools that set up in old shopping malls and are run by people without college degrees, and they close in November after paying themselves several hundred thousand dollars. It’s sickening.
But I digress. McConnell sucks. My turtle, however, is a good boy and objects to being compared to that walking pile of waste.
…the GOP, ladies & gentlemen…manufacturing ignorance since who-the-fuck-can-even-remember
…sabotage is somehow an understatement
During the Second World War the US spent like crazy, taxed the rich through the nose, logged an enormous debt, and once it was over kicked off the GI Bill, the biggest investment ever in college education, launched the Marshall Plan, the biggest expansion of foreign aid ever, began the Interstate Highways, launched the space program, and went on a time of enormous economic growth.
Which is the biggest nightmare the GOP has, of course.
Forgot to add that the region of the country which lagged the most behind the spending-fueled post WW2 economic expansion was the South, with its addiction to low taxes on its oligarchs, austerity spending for public institutions like schools and hospitals, and racist laws that shut out huge numbers of citizens from public and economic life.
Which is the great dream of the GOP, of course.