Aa
Wall Street Journal Warns Republicans Are Greatest Threat To America’s Economy
http://www.politicususa.com/2015/08/25/wall-street-journal-warns-republicans-greatest-threat-americas-economy.html
"It is fairly well known that since Republican demigod Ronald Reagan was president, the GOP have concentrated on the one and only economic agenda that has proven to fail since its inception. Oh it is true that there are several other failed economic policies Republicans embrace besides just giving outrageously generous and unfunded tax cuts to the richest one percent, but oil subsidies, spending cuts, financial deregulation, poverty wages and allowing corporations to hide their trillions of dollars in profits are secondary in the extent of harm to the economy and Americans to the absurd trickle down scam. However, over the past six years Republicans have employed a novel means of wreaking economic havoc on the nation that typically has had nothing whatsoever to do with spending, debt and deficit, or growing the economy, and this year they are using religion to slow down job creation and thwart economic growth.
The world’s economists, like all Americans, have sat back and marveled at how Republicans in Congress have deliberately and repeatedly taken the country into fiscal deadline after fiscal deadline to force Democrats to bend to their will. Now, as another deadlines looms, a majority of economists responding to a Wall Street Journal survey predicted Republicans would once again damage the economy and world financial markets because evangelicals hate Roe v. Wade, contraception, and the incomprehensible idea of women making their own reproductive health choices that are contrary to evangelical and Catholic clergy.
According to a recent survey of 62 real economists by the Wall Street Journal, it is not the instability of China’s stock market, or its move to devalue its currency, or the Greek Eurozone crisis, or the possibility of the Federal Reserve finally raising interest rates. What frightens a great majority of the nation’s leading economic experts most of all is that the Republican-controlled Congress will “precipitate another fiscal crisis this fall” when Republicans plan to either shut down the government unless Planned Parenthood is destroyed, or hold the debt ceiling hostage until Planned Parenthood is destroyed. It is important to note that the push to put an end to Planned Parenthood has nothing to do with the economy, debt and deficit, national security, jobs, or economic growth; it is about legislating and enforcing an extremist religious policy.
The devoutly Republican Wall Street Journal’s economic round table noted that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell made a solemn promise that Republicans would never shut down the government, or ever hold the debt ceiling hostage again. However, McConnell, or Speaker John Boehner for that matter, does not lead the Republican-controlled Congress; that power belongs to evangelical maniac Ted Cruz and his extremist clergymen in both chambers.
According to the WSJ Survey: Economists Cite Budget Battle as Top Threat, “After watching Congress repeatedly crash into fiscal deadlines in recent years, a majority of economists are expecting a repeat performance, with 55% of respondents to the latest Wall Street Journal survey of 62 economists predicting that there will be some disruption to the economy and financial markets in the months ahead.” And it will be the result of Republicans who intend on using the upcoming budget deadline and debt ceiling to achieve their neo-American Christianity’s goal of abolishing Planned Parenthood. According to current crop of GOP-theocrats, the Supreme Court illegally used the Constitution’s 14th Amendment to “allow” women to choose when they give birth.
The WSJ economists are fearful that yet another evangelical Republican economic disruption will have a really serious impact on their forecast for 2.2 percent GDP growth and a 5.1 percent unemployment rate by the end of 2015. The economists, who have witnessed Republicans “produce significant damage to the American economy” three times over the past six years said they are convinced Republicans will do a repeat performance such as the debt ceiling crisis of 2011, the fiscal cliff showdown in 2012, and the 2013 government shutdown that adversely affected the American economy and won Republicans control of the entire Congress. The economists, particularly the chief U.S. economist of High Frequency Economics forecasting firm, Jim O’Sullivan, said if Republicans as varied in extremism as Ted Cruz and John McCain follow through on their threat to shut down the government if Planned Parenthood is not destroyed, especially with a new budget and borrowing authority due by October 1st, they will repeat their past “serious damage to the economy by harming consumer confidence.”
The economists are not just imagining a worst-case scenario without empirical data, they noted that in 2011 when Republicans held the debt-ceiling hostage, not only did it cost the Treasury billions and billions of dollars in higher borrowing costs due to a first-in-history credit downgrade, it destroyed American consumer confidence. The result was, according to economic experts, real data, Reuters and the Christian Science Monitor, “the Republican debt-ceiling debacle caused job creation, consumer confidence, and economic growth to nose-dive.” It was “mission accomplished” for Republicans who have been stellar at killing jobs and thwarting a robust economic recovery since they crashed the world’s economy just seven years’ ago.
It is important to remember that when Standard & Poor (S&P) downgraded America’s stellar credit in 2011, it was solely because Republicans “expressed skepticism about the serious consequences of a credit default,” and that “the stability and effectiveness of American political institutions were undermined by the fact that “people in the political arena were even talking about a creating a credit default. That a country even has such voices is something notable. This kind of rhetoric is not common amongst AAA sovereigns.”
What S&P, like the WSJ’s panel of economists, certainly understands is that nothing about the rhetoric from the current crop of Republicans is common, or sane, or economically sound, or in this looming crisis, unrelated to evangelical fundamentalism. Seriously, Republicans cannot complain about federal spending because it has been lower in every year of President Obama’s tenure, and the annual budget deficit has shrunk by two-thirds. What Republicans will shut down the government over is not about spending, or a debt crisis; it will be about women and men having access to cancer screenings, family planning, and contraceptive use; all issues founded on religion and all issues Republicans will use to dampen consumer confidence, damage job creation, and prevent economic growth.
Although in the past the extremists in Republican ranks were ever-present, it has become a requisite to be over-the-top extreme since the Republican presidential primary began. Since they have no cause célèbre like the Affordable Care Act to use as a reason to shut down the government or destroy the “full faith and credit of the United States,” Republicans have embraced the religious right’s war on women’s right to choose as the newest reason to, at least, damage the economy. It is important that the latest warning from economists are all affiliated with the Republican Wall Street Journal, and although they acknowledged that the economic crisis in China, affordable oil prices, and Greek economic woes certainly impact America’s economy, they are only warning that, like in 2008, 2011, 2012, and 2013, it is extremist Republicans that continue to pose the greatest threat to America’s economy."
"It is fairly well known that since Republican demigod Ronald Reagan was president, the GOP have concentrated on the one and only economic agenda that has proven to fail since its inception. Oh it is true that there are several other failed economic policies Republicans embrace besides just giving outrageously generous and unfunded tax cuts to the richest one percent, but oil subsidies, spending cuts, financial deregulation, poverty wages and allowing corporations to hide their trillions of dollars in profits are secondary in the extent of harm to the economy and Americans to the absurd trickle down scam. However, over the past six years Republicans have employed a novel means of wreaking economic havoc on the nation that typically has had nothing whatsoever to do with spending, debt and deficit, or growing the economy, and this year they are using religion to slow down job creation and thwart economic growth.
The world’s economists, like all Americans, have sat back and marveled at how Republicans in Congress have deliberately and repeatedly taken the country into fiscal deadline after fiscal deadline to force Democrats to bend to their will. Now, as another deadlines looms, a majority of economists responding to a Wall Street Journal survey predicted Republicans would once again damage the economy and world financial markets because evangelicals hate Roe v. Wade, contraception, and the incomprehensible idea of women making their own reproductive health choices that are contrary to evangelical and Catholic clergy.
According to a recent survey of 62 real economists by the Wall Street Journal, it is not the instability of China’s stock market, or its move to devalue its currency, or the Greek Eurozone crisis, or the possibility of the Federal Reserve finally raising interest rates. What frightens a great majority of the nation’s leading economic experts most of all is that the Republican-controlled Congress will “precipitate another fiscal crisis this fall” when Republicans plan to either shut down the government unless Planned Parenthood is destroyed, or hold the debt ceiling hostage until Planned Parenthood is destroyed. It is important to note that the push to put an end to Planned Parenthood has nothing to do with the economy, debt and deficit, national security, jobs, or economic growth; it is about legislating and enforcing an extremist religious policy.
The devoutly Republican Wall Street Journal’s economic round table noted that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell made a solemn promise that Republicans would never shut down the government, or ever hold the debt ceiling hostage again. However, McConnell, or Speaker John Boehner for that matter, does not lead the Republican-controlled Congress; that power belongs to evangelical maniac Ted Cruz and his extremist clergymen in both chambers.
According to the WSJ Survey: Economists Cite Budget Battle as Top Threat, “After watching Congress repeatedly crash into fiscal deadlines in recent years, a majority of economists are expecting a repeat performance, with 55% of respondents to the latest Wall Street Journal survey of 62 economists predicting that there will be some disruption to the economy and financial markets in the months ahead.” And it will be the result of Republicans who intend on using the upcoming budget deadline and debt ceiling to achieve their neo-American Christianity’s goal of abolishing Planned Parenthood. According to current crop of GOP-theocrats, the Supreme Court illegally used the Constitution’s 14th Amendment to “allow” women to choose when they give birth.
The WSJ economists are fearful that yet another evangelical Republican economic disruption will have a really serious impact on their forecast for 2.2 percent GDP growth and a 5.1 percent unemployment rate by the end of 2015. The economists, who have witnessed Republicans “produce significant damage to the American economy” three times over the past six years said they are convinced Republicans will do a repeat performance such as the debt ceiling crisis of 2011, the fiscal cliff showdown in 2012, and the 2013 government shutdown that adversely affected the American economy and won Republicans control of the entire Congress. The economists, particularly the chief U.S. economist of High Frequency Economics forecasting firm, Jim O’Sullivan, said if Republicans as varied in extremism as Ted Cruz and John McCain follow through on their threat to shut down the government if Planned Parenthood is not destroyed, especially with a new budget and borrowing authority due by October 1st, they will repeat their past “serious damage to the economy by harming consumer confidence.”
The economists are not just imagining a worst-case scenario without empirical data, they noted that in 2011 when Republicans held the debt-ceiling hostage, not only did it cost the Treasury billions and billions of dollars in higher borrowing costs due to a first-in-history credit downgrade, it destroyed American consumer confidence. The result was, according to economic experts, real data, Reuters and the Christian Science Monitor, “the Republican debt-ceiling debacle caused job creation, consumer confidence, and economic growth to nose-dive.” It was “mission accomplished” for Republicans who have been stellar at killing jobs and thwarting a robust economic recovery since they crashed the world’s economy just seven years’ ago.
It is important to remember that when Standard & Poor (S&P) downgraded America’s stellar credit in 2011, it was solely because Republicans “expressed skepticism about the serious consequences of a credit default,” and that “the stability and effectiveness of American political institutions were undermined by the fact that “people in the political arena were even talking about a creating a credit default. That a country even has such voices is something notable. This kind of rhetoric is not common amongst AAA sovereigns.”
What S&P, like the WSJ’s panel of economists, certainly understands is that nothing about the rhetoric from the current crop of Republicans is common, or sane, or economically sound, or in this looming crisis, unrelated to evangelical fundamentalism. Seriously, Republicans cannot complain about federal spending because it has been lower in every year of President Obama’s tenure, and the annual budget deficit has shrunk by two-thirds. What Republicans will shut down the government over is not about spending, or a debt crisis; it will be about women and men having access to cancer screenings, family planning, and contraceptive use; all issues founded on religion and all issues Republicans will use to dampen consumer confidence, damage job creation, and prevent economic growth.
Although in the past the extremists in Republican ranks were ever-present, it has become a requisite to be over-the-top extreme since the Republican presidential primary began. Since they have no cause célèbre like the Affordable Care Act to use as a reason to shut down the government or destroy the “full faith and credit of the United States,” Republicans have embraced the religious right’s war on women’s right to choose as the newest reason to, at least, damage the economy. It is important that the latest warning from economists are all affiliated with the Republican Wall Street Journal, and although they acknowledged that the economic crisis in China, affordable oil prices, and Greek economic woes certainly impact America’s economy, they are only warning that, like in 2008, 2011, 2012, and 2013, it is extremist Republicans that continue to pose the greatest threat to America’s economy."
Just had to get in a blame Bush...well done liberal, still sticking with the playbook. 2 Thumbs up for you.
Do you know why Clinton had what he had? Do you remember what happened? REPUBLICANS SHUT THINGS DOWN UNTIL CLINTON WORKED WITH THEM. Speaker Gingrich was the person who got things done. He got the budget in a good spot not Billy.
Do you know why Clinton had what he had? Do you remember what happened? REPUBLICANS SHUT THINGS DOWN UNTIL CLINTON WORKED WITH THEM. Speaker Gingrich was the person who got things done. He got the budget in a good spot not Billy.
"Regan began the downward spiral of our once successful economy"?????
Please share your thoughts on the successful economy that Regan inherited from Carter.
Please share your thoughts on the successful economy that Regan inherited from Carter.
The sad state of in California is that people are often paying two thirds of their income in rent. Something is wrong with what's going on and I see it as rampant greed.
Regan began the downward spiral of our once successful economy with his trickle down theory.
He deregulated Big Business. That is, he removed the restrictions put in place that kept companies from cheating. He removed, primarily economic oversight.
Don't forget when President Clinton left office in January 2001 with the federal budget in the black by $236 billion and with a projected 10-year budget surplus of $5.6 trillion.
Now we have Citizens United ( thank you George Bush for your appointees to the bench).
The truth as I see it is that the problems with our current government ARE over the top~ way over the top.
Let's face problems honestly instead of being concerned with who is or isn't being melodramatic.
Regan began the downward spiral of our once successful economy with his trickle down theory.
He deregulated Big Business. That is, he removed the restrictions put in place that kept companies from cheating. He removed, primarily economic oversight.
Don't forget when President Clinton left office in January 2001 with the federal budget in the black by $236 billion and with a projected 10-year budget surplus of $5.6 trillion.
Now we have Citizens United ( thank you George Bush for your appointees to the bench).
The truth as I see it is that the problems with our current government ARE over the top~ way over the top.
Let's face problems honestly instead of being concerned with who is or isn't being melodramatic.
I would rather pay an honest 16-28% on an union pipe fitter's salary and eliminate the earned income credit and the rest of the current crusts that are tossed to placate the masses.
Pssst! (You know nobody on the left will pay attention to your post, right? Only their links are the good ones. As soon as you figure that out, they can try to whip you into submission.) That works good for them.
"If one wants to use the 1958 example as a precedent, it would be fair to point out that the lowest-bracket income tax rates are a fairly new development, as of the mid-1980s. One could also use the example of 1959 to argue that many more taxpayers in the broad range of lower- and middle-incomes should face marginal federal tax rates in the range of 16-28%."
You need to do some studying
http://conversableeconomist.blogspot.com/2012/03/top-marginal-tax-rates-1958-vs-2009.html
You need to do some studying
http://conversableeconomist.blogspot.com/2012/03/top-marginal-tax-rates-1958-vs-2009.html
If I'm reading the tables correctly:
http://taxfoundation.org/sites/taxfoundation.org/files/docs/fed_individual_rate_history_adjusted.pdf
a couple making a quarter million dollars and filing jointly in 1958 paid aprox.$115,000 in taxes (2013 dollars) and a couple doing the same in 2013 paid aprox. $75,000.
The money collected in 1958 built highways and national parks and made our education system the envy of the world. We sent men into space with this money, we cured disease with this money. We were respected by the rest of the world. I will never be able to convince someone who feels they deserve a new car or a vacation more than they need these things that they should pay higher taxes. This is what I speak of when I say Reagan engendered an 'entitlement mentality'. He awoke the inner selfish child in a lot of people and told them it was OK to put their needs in front of the country's. After all, everyone else was doing it, and it's much easier to let yourself slide down to the lowest common denominator than to try to raise anyone up.
http://taxfoundation.org/sites/taxfoundation.org/files/docs/fed_individual_rate_history_adjusted.pdf
a couple making a quarter million dollars and filing jointly in 1958 paid aprox.$115,000 in taxes (2013 dollars) and a couple doing the same in 2013 paid aprox. $75,000.
The money collected in 1958 built highways and national parks and made our education system the envy of the world. We sent men into space with this money, we cured disease with this money. We were respected by the rest of the world. I will never be able to convince someone who feels they deserve a new car or a vacation more than they need these things that they should pay higher taxes. This is what I speak of when I say Reagan engendered an 'entitlement mentality'. He awoke the inner selfish child in a lot of people and told them it was OK to put their needs in front of the country's. After all, everyone else was doing it, and it's much easier to let yourself slide down to the lowest common denominator than to try to raise anyone up.
Whose "entitlement mentality" is "wreaking economic ruin on this country"?
We have so many people receiving "entitlements" that they aren't entitled to there aren't enough people left working to pay the bills.
We have so many people receiving "entitlements" that they aren't entitled to there aren't enough people left working to pay the bills.
"There was a time in this country where people expected to pay for what they received." There was a time in this country when people were expected to work for the pay they received also.
Let my neighbor support thee..................
Let my neighbor support thee..................
'Cause fixing an economy where half the value of Wall Street and our housing market turns out to be smoke and mirrors should have taken what? About a month or so? With a bunch of dead weight, party of 'N'o', politicians dragging their feet?
Not that that has anything to do with returning the tax rate to what it was under the *Republican* administrations mentioned in the 50s, 60s, and 70s. There was a time in this country where people expected to pay for what they received. That went out the window with the Great Communicator and his ability to convince the masses that they were being exploited by "welfare queens". Make people feel fearful and taken advantage of and you can convince them of any nonsense.
Not that that has anything to do with returning the tax rate to what it was under the *Republican* administrations mentioned in the 50s, 60s, and 70s. There was a time in this country where people expected to pay for what they received. That went out the window with the Great Communicator and his ability to convince the masses that they were being exploited by "welfare queens". Make people feel fearful and taken advantage of and you can convince them of any nonsense.
Democrats had some time all to themselves the first year or so of this administration. What happened? (Not much.... and they will blame Bush.)
Change the tax rates back to what they were under Eisenhower or even Nixon and it's paid for. It's this Reagan era entitlement mentality that's wreaking economic ruin on this country and allowing our infrastructure to deteriorate. At one time the 1% realized they had a primo spot at the trough and they paid a tax commensurate with their privileged position. Nowadays people and corporations hide their money in tax dodges and then complain when our roads, schools, and parks are ****.
Once again... why is it that when Republicans disagree with Democrats and their proposed policy plans, bills, agenda, that WE'RE DESTROYING AMERICA?
Why so melodramatic all the time?
Why can't we disagree... meet in the middle... and DO something for a change, instead of this "all or none" attitude? Give a little, get a little.
With you guys (Libs), you propose a plan, and you want ALL OF IT. You won't budge. You won't conceed an inch. It's all or none, or you'll go to the grave trashing Republicans for trying to destroy the world.
You can't just raise taxes, and create programs, and continue giving giving giving. Come up with a plan to PAY FOR IT, and we can talk (and the solution can't be, print more money).
Why so melodramatic all the time?
Why can't we disagree... meet in the middle... and DO something for a change, instead of this "all or none" attitude? Give a little, get a little.
With you guys (Libs), you propose a plan, and you want ALL OF IT. You won't budge. You won't conceed an inch. It's all or none, or you'll go to the grave trashing Republicans for trying to destroy the world.
You can't just raise taxes, and create programs, and continue giving giving giving. Come up with a plan to PAY FOR IT, and we can talk (and the solution can't be, print more money).
I can't believe you haven't realized - it's over the top.
It's that simple.
It's that simple.
http://robertreich.org/post/84984296635
The next time the Democrats try to shut the government down, cost us billions in the attempt, and make us look like Trumpesque buffoons to our allies I'll be the first to let you know.
Hey, have you heard Trump's new name? 'Anchor husband'. 2x
"The Six Principles of the New Populism (and the Establishment’s Nightmare)"
"More Americans than ever believe the economy is rigged in favor of Wall Street and big business and their enablers in Washington. We’re five years into a so-called recovery that’s been a bonanza for the rich but a bust for the middle class. “The game is rigged and the American people know that. They get it right down to their toes,” says Senator Elizabeth Warren.
Which is fueling a new populism on both the left and the right. While still far apart, neo-populists on both sides are bending toward one another and against the establishment.
Who made the following comments? (Hint: Not Warren, and not Bernie Sanders.)
A. We “cannot be the party of fat cats, rich people, and Wall Street.”
B. “The rich and powerful, those who walk the corridors of power, are getting fat and happy…”
C. “If you come to Washington and serve in Congress, there should be a lifetime ban on lobbying.”
D. “Washington promoted moral hazard by protecting Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which privatized profits and socialized losses.”
E. “When you had the chance to stand up for Americans’ privacy, did you?”
F. “The people who wake up at night thinking of which new country they want to bomb, which new country they want to be involved in, they don’t like restraint. They don’t like reluctance to go to war.”
(Answers: A. Rand Paul, B. Ted Cruz, C. Ted Cruz, D. House Republican Joe Hensarling, E. House Republican Justin Amash, F. Rand Paul )
You might doubt the sincerity behind some of these statements, but they wouldn’t have been uttered if the crowds didn’t respond enthusiastically – and that’s the point. Republican populism is growing, as is the Democratic version, because the public wants it.
And it’s not only the rhetoric that’s converging. Populists on the right and left are also coming together around six principles:
1. Cut the biggest Wall Street banks down to a size where they’re no longer too big to fail. Left populists have been advocating this since the Street’s bailout now they’re being joined by populists on the right. David Camp, House Ways and Means Committee chair, recently proposed an extra 3.5 percent quarterly tax on the assets of the biggest Wall Street banks (giving them an incentive to trim down). Louisiana Republican Senator David Vitter wants to break up the big banks, as does conservative pundit George Will. “There is nothing conservative about bailing out Wall Street,” says Rand Paul.
2. Resurrect the Glass-Steagall Act, separating investment from commercial banking and thereby preventing companies from gambling with their depositors’ money. Elizabeth Warren has introduced such legislation, and John McCain co-sponsored it. Tea Partiers are strongly supportive, and critical of establishment Republicans for not getting behind it. “It is disappointing that progressive collectivists are leading the effort for a return to a law that served well for decades,” writes the Tea Party Tribune. “Of course, the establishment political class would never admit that their financial donors and patrons must hinder their unbridled trading strategies.”
3. End corporate welfare – including subsidies to big oil, big agribusiness, big pharma, Wall Street, and the Ex-Im Bank. Populists on the left have long been urging this; right-wing populists are joining in. Republican David Camp’s proposed tax reforms would kill dozens of targeted tax breaks. Says Ted Cruz: “We need to eliminate corporate welfare and crony capitalism.”
4. Stop the National Security Agency from spying on Americans. Bernie Sanders and other populists on the left have led this charge but right-wing populists are close behind. House Republican Justin Amash’s amendment, that would have defunded NSA programs engaging in bulk-data collection, garnered 111 Democrats and 94 Republicans last year, highlighting the new populist divide in both parties. Rand Paul could be channeling Sanders when he warns: “Your rights, especially your right to privacy, is under assault… if you own a cellphone, you’re under surveillance.”
5. Scale back American interventions overseas. Populists on the left have long been uncomfortable with American forays overseas. Rand Paul is leaning in the same direction. Paul also tends toward conspiratorial views about American interventionism. Shortly before he took office he was caught on video claiming that former vice president **** Cheney pushed the Iraq War because of his ties to Halliburton.
6. Oppose trade agreements crafted by big corporations. Two decades ago Democrats and Republicans enacted the North American Free Trade Agreement. Since then populists in both parties have mounted increasing opposition to such agreements. The Trans-Pacific Partnership, drafted in secret by a handful of major corporations, is facing so strong a backlash from both Democrats and tea party Republicans that it’s nearly dead. “The Tea Party movement does not support the Trans-Pacific Partnership,” says Judson Philips, president of Tea Party Nation. “Special interest and big corporations are being given a seat at the table” while average Americans are excluded.
Left and right-wing populists remain deeply divided over the role of government. Even so, the major fault line in American politics seems to be shifting, from Democrat versus Republican, to populist versus establishment – those who think the game is rigged versus those who do the rigging.
In this month’s Republican primaries, tea partiers continue their battle against establishment Republicans. But the major test will be 2016 when both parties pick their presidential candidates.
Ted Cruz and Rand Paul are already vying to take on Republican establishment favorites Jeb Bush or Chris Christie. Elizabeth Warren says she won’t run in the Democratic primaries, presumably against Hillary Clinton, but rumors abound. Bernie Sanders hints he might.
Wall Street and big business Republicans are already signaling they’d prefer a Democratic establishment candidate over a Republican populist.
Dozens of major GOP donors, Wall Street Republicans, and corporate lobbyists have told Politico that if Jeb Bush decides against running and Chris Christie doesn’t recover politically, they’ll support Hillary Clinton. “The darkest secret in the big money world of the Republican coastal elite is that the most palatable alternative to a nominee such as Senator Ted Cruz of Texas or Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky would be Clinton,” concludes Politico.
Says a top Republican-leaning Wall Street lawyer, “it’s Rand Paul or Ted Cruz versus someone like Elizabeth Warren that would be everybody’s worst nightmare.”
Everybody on Wall Street and in corporate suites, that is. And the “nightmare” may not occur in 2016. But if current trends continue, some similar “nightmare” is likely within the decade. If the American establishment wants to remain the establishment it will need to respond to the anxiety that’s fueling the new populism rather than fight it."
Hey, have you heard Trump's new name? 'Anchor husband'. 2x
"The Six Principles of the New Populism (and the Establishment’s Nightmare)"
"More Americans than ever believe the economy is rigged in favor of Wall Street and big business and their enablers in Washington. We’re five years into a so-called recovery that’s been a bonanza for the rich but a bust for the middle class. “The game is rigged and the American people know that. They get it right down to their toes,” says Senator Elizabeth Warren.
Which is fueling a new populism on both the left and the right. While still far apart, neo-populists on both sides are bending toward one another and against the establishment.
Who made the following comments? (Hint: Not Warren, and not Bernie Sanders.)
A. We “cannot be the party of fat cats, rich people, and Wall Street.”
B. “The rich and powerful, those who walk the corridors of power, are getting fat and happy…”
C. “If you come to Washington and serve in Congress, there should be a lifetime ban on lobbying.”
D. “Washington promoted moral hazard by protecting Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which privatized profits and socialized losses.”
E. “When you had the chance to stand up for Americans’ privacy, did you?”
F. “The people who wake up at night thinking of which new country they want to bomb, which new country they want to be involved in, they don’t like restraint. They don’t like reluctance to go to war.”
(Answers: A. Rand Paul, B. Ted Cruz, C. Ted Cruz, D. House Republican Joe Hensarling, E. House Republican Justin Amash, F. Rand Paul )
You might doubt the sincerity behind some of these statements, but they wouldn’t have been uttered if the crowds didn’t respond enthusiastically – and that’s the point. Republican populism is growing, as is the Democratic version, because the public wants it.
And it’s not only the rhetoric that’s converging. Populists on the right and left are also coming together around six principles:
1. Cut the biggest Wall Street banks down to a size where they’re no longer too big to fail. Left populists have been advocating this since the Street’s bailout now they’re being joined by populists on the right. David Camp, House Ways and Means Committee chair, recently proposed an extra 3.5 percent quarterly tax on the assets of the biggest Wall Street banks (giving them an incentive to trim down). Louisiana Republican Senator David Vitter wants to break up the big banks, as does conservative pundit George Will. “There is nothing conservative about bailing out Wall Street,” says Rand Paul.
2. Resurrect the Glass-Steagall Act, separating investment from commercial banking and thereby preventing companies from gambling with their depositors’ money. Elizabeth Warren has introduced such legislation, and John McCain co-sponsored it. Tea Partiers are strongly supportive, and critical of establishment Republicans for not getting behind it. “It is disappointing that progressive collectivists are leading the effort for a return to a law that served well for decades,” writes the Tea Party Tribune. “Of course, the establishment political class would never admit that their financial donors and patrons must hinder their unbridled trading strategies.”
3. End corporate welfare – including subsidies to big oil, big agribusiness, big pharma, Wall Street, and the Ex-Im Bank. Populists on the left have long been urging this; right-wing populists are joining in. Republican David Camp’s proposed tax reforms would kill dozens of targeted tax breaks. Says Ted Cruz: “We need to eliminate corporate welfare and crony capitalism.”
4. Stop the National Security Agency from spying on Americans. Bernie Sanders and other populists on the left have led this charge but right-wing populists are close behind. House Republican Justin Amash’s amendment, that would have defunded NSA programs engaging in bulk-data collection, garnered 111 Democrats and 94 Republicans last year, highlighting the new populist divide in both parties. Rand Paul could be channeling Sanders when he warns: “Your rights, especially your right to privacy, is under assault… if you own a cellphone, you’re under surveillance.”
5. Scale back American interventions overseas. Populists on the left have long been uncomfortable with American forays overseas. Rand Paul is leaning in the same direction. Paul also tends toward conspiratorial views about American interventionism. Shortly before he took office he was caught on video claiming that former vice president **** Cheney pushed the Iraq War because of his ties to Halliburton.
6. Oppose trade agreements crafted by big corporations. Two decades ago Democrats and Republicans enacted the North American Free Trade Agreement. Since then populists in both parties have mounted increasing opposition to such agreements. The Trans-Pacific Partnership, drafted in secret by a handful of major corporations, is facing so strong a backlash from both Democrats and tea party Republicans that it’s nearly dead. “The Tea Party movement does not support the Trans-Pacific Partnership,” says Judson Philips, president of Tea Party Nation. “Special interest and big corporations are being given a seat at the table” while average Americans are excluded.
Left and right-wing populists remain deeply divided over the role of government. Even so, the major fault line in American politics seems to be shifting, from Democrat versus Republican, to populist versus establishment – those who think the game is rigged versus those who do the rigging.
In this month’s Republican primaries, tea partiers continue their battle against establishment Republicans. But the major test will be 2016 when both parties pick their presidential candidates.
Ted Cruz and Rand Paul are already vying to take on Republican establishment favorites Jeb Bush or Chris Christie. Elizabeth Warren says she won’t run in the Democratic primaries, presumably against Hillary Clinton, but rumors abound. Bernie Sanders hints he might.
Wall Street and big business Republicans are already signaling they’d prefer a Democratic establishment candidate over a Republican populist.
Dozens of major GOP donors, Wall Street Republicans, and corporate lobbyists have told Politico that if Jeb Bush decides against running and Chris Christie doesn’t recover politically, they’ll support Hillary Clinton. “The darkest secret in the big money world of the Republican coastal elite is that the most palatable alternative to a nominee such as Senator Ted Cruz of Texas or Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky would be Clinton,” concludes Politico.
Says a top Republican-leaning Wall Street lawyer, “it’s Rand Paul or Ted Cruz versus someone like Elizabeth Warren that would be everybody’s worst nightmare.”
Everybody on Wall Street and in corporate suites, that is. And the “nightmare” may not occur in 2016. But if current trends continue, some similar “nightmare” is likely within the decade. If the American establishment wants to remain the establishment it will need to respond to the anxiety that’s fueling the new populism rather than fight it."
"...they'll be able to relax."
You act like the democrats do nothing to gum up the works. One of the most influential democrats in politics came out and said that he lied and that he was proud of it because the republican didn't get elected.
There's no problem with that?
You act like the democrats do nothing to gum up the works. One of the most influential democrats in politics came out and said that he lied and that he was proud of it because the republican didn't get elected.
There's no problem with that?
"The Republicans are already "in" power in Congress so I'm not sure what this "desperate scramble to regain power" is all about. "
You'd think so, right? But even with control of both Houses and the Supreme Court , the perception seems to be that they can only lead by foot dragging and nay saying. Maybe when they have the Presidency, veto proof majorities, and no dissenting Justices they'll be able to relax.
You'd think so, right? But even with control of both Houses and the Supreme Court , the perception seems to be that they can only lead by foot dragging and nay saying. Maybe when they have the Presidency, veto proof majorities, and no dissenting Justices they'll be able to relax.
Yes, a little melodramatic and like I said, the author is a bit over the top...
The Republicans are already "in" power in Congress so I'm not sure what this "desperate scramble to regain power" is all about.
While I'm, definitely, not whole-heartedly and 100% in love with the Republicans, neither do I think they are single handedly tearing this country apart and/or ruining the world's economy. They're getting plenty of help from the liberal Democrats, China and ISIS to name a few...
The Republicans are already "in" power in Congress so I'm not sure what this "desperate scramble to regain power" is all about.
While I'm, definitely, not whole-heartedly and 100% in love with the Republicans, neither do I think they are single handedly tearing this country apart and/or ruining the world's economy. They're getting plenty of help from the liberal Democrats, China and ISIS to name a few...
A little melodramatic, isn't it?
"......over the top..." ? I guess I could have edited out the first two paragraphs and the last paragraph to make it more palatable. It doesn't change the gist of the article.
"... The economists are not just imagining a worst-case scenario without empirical data, they noted that in 2011 when Republicans held the debt-ceiling hostage, not only did it cost the Treasury billions and billions of dollars in higher borrowing costs due to a first-in-history credit downgrade, it destroyed American consumer confidence. The result was, according to economic experts, real data, Reuters and the Christian Science Monitor, “the Republican debt-ceiling debacle caused job creation, consumer confidence, and economic growth to nose-dive.” It was “mission accomplished” for Republicans who have been stellar at killing jobs and thwarting a robust economic recovery since they crashed the world’s economy just seven years’ ago.
It is important to remember that when Standard & Poor (S&P) downgraded America’s stellar credit in 2011, it was solely because Republicans “expressed skepticism about the serious consequences of a credit default,” and that “the stability and effectiveness of American political institutions were undermined by the fact that “people in the political arena were even talking about a creating a credit default. That a country even has such voices is something notable. This kind of rhetoric is not common amongst AAA sovereigns.”
What S&P, like the WSJ’s panel of economists, certainly understands is that nothing about the rhetoric from the current crop of Republicans is common, or sane, or economically sound, or in this looming crisis, unrelated to evangelical fundamentalism. Seriously, Republicans cannot complain about federal spending because it has been lower in every year of President Obama’s tenure, and the annual budget deficit has shrunk by two-thirds. What Republicans will shut down the government over is not about spending, or a debt crisis; it will be about women and men having access to cancer screenings, family planning, and contraceptive use; all issues founded on religion and all issues Republicans will use to dampen consumer confidence, damage job creation, and prevent economic growth... "
Or for those who like it really succinct:
The GOP is willing to tear this country apart and ruin the world's economy in a desperate scramble to regain power.
"... The economists are not just imagining a worst-case scenario without empirical data, they noted that in 2011 when Republicans held the debt-ceiling hostage, not only did it cost the Treasury billions and billions of dollars in higher borrowing costs due to a first-in-history credit downgrade, it destroyed American consumer confidence. The result was, according to economic experts, real data, Reuters and the Christian Science Monitor, “the Republican debt-ceiling debacle caused job creation, consumer confidence, and economic growth to nose-dive.” It was “mission accomplished” for Republicans who have been stellar at killing jobs and thwarting a robust economic recovery since they crashed the world’s economy just seven years’ ago.
It is important to remember that when Standard & Poor (S&P) downgraded America’s stellar credit in 2011, it was solely because Republicans “expressed skepticism about the serious consequences of a credit default,” and that “the stability and effectiveness of American political institutions were undermined by the fact that “people in the political arena were even talking about a creating a credit default. That a country even has such voices is something notable. This kind of rhetoric is not common amongst AAA sovereigns.”
What S&P, like the WSJ’s panel of economists, certainly understands is that nothing about the rhetoric from the current crop of Republicans is common, or sane, or economically sound, or in this looming crisis, unrelated to evangelical fundamentalism. Seriously, Republicans cannot complain about federal spending because it has been lower in every year of President Obama’s tenure, and the annual budget deficit has shrunk by two-thirds. What Republicans will shut down the government over is not about spending, or a debt crisis; it will be about women and men having access to cancer screenings, family planning, and contraceptive use; all issues founded on religion and all issues Republicans will use to dampen consumer confidence, damage job creation, and prevent economic growth... "
Or for those who like it really succinct:
The GOP is willing to tear this country apart and ruin the world's economy in a desperate scramble to regain power.
The republicans are going to ruin everything. I guess the good news is, they are going to ruin democrats as well. maybe then we can start over.
I think this is cause for a celebration!
I think this is cause for a celebration!
I'm certainly no fan of Ted Cruz and if he's stupid enough to pull something like that over Planned Parenthood, he might as well kiss goodbye whatever slim chance he might have of becoming President... Of course, he doesn't have a snowball's chance of winning anyway, but the writer is a bit over the top...
The writer, Rmuse has to be one of the most biased writers I have ever read, it's obvious he dislikes republicans, so of course he would write some crap like that.
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