When Balanced Budgets are Evil, Evil, Evil!
A good friend sent me a link to this preposterous article from something ludicrously named "Reason.com." As I've been pretty fed up with the regurgitated crap that is all I'm seeing from the right wing blogosphere these days, I though a "Sadly No" style exegesis might provide a good substitute. So, Here goes:
"Progressive Failure Is On Full Display in California
Don’t follow the disastrous example set by the Golden State."
By Steven Greenhut
It's a disaster out here under the palm trees, what with our balanced budget and all, achieved without making the middle class and the poor pay for every cent of damage caused by the rich, yes sir. This is so convincing as I sit here in our study and look out over the canyon we live in, I just had to read further.
"California’s modern-day progressive Democrats keep crowing about the huge success they’ve had in taming the state’s budget deficit thanks to Prop. 30’s tax increases and other “reforms,” and now are championing the Jerry Brown model as a blueprint for the nation. Be very afraid."
God forbid the whole nation should tame its budget deficit! No Conservative could ever be for a pinko idea like that, right? As soon as a Democrat balances a budget, hey, suddenly balanced budgets become a perverse left wing abomination. I can hardly wait for Steven to explain that one.
"It’s bad enough that other states have to deal with our residents, who are fleeing our success-punishing tax and regulatory regimen, but now, apparently, they are going to have to deal with our bad ideas, promoted through smug lectures from California’s liberal politicians."
Fleeing California residents? The only one I've heard about is that golf guy, and I think Florida can handle him. And sorry, Steve, those "smug lectures," which you are only imagining, would hardly begin to balance out the thousands of smug lectures we've had to listen to, about how we here in California are destroying Western Civilization by not being mean enough to poor people. Smug lectures, by the way, from Republicans living in States that, by and large, live off of Federal tax money paid by Democrats.
"Not surprisingly, the national media have been quick to tout California’s Democratic-led “renaissance.” For instance, The New Republic this week published a feature, “Back from the Brink,” about California progressives having “achieved the impossible” of a balanced budget.
“Progressive Democratic activists identified the straitjacket of rules that had the state tied up in knots, and devised a systematic plan to change them,” the magazine’s David Dayen argued. “Through massive organizing, they transformed the electorate and sidelined Republican obstructionists. Now, with surplus money on hand, they’re getting ready to fight a new battle over the next few years: whether to focus on budget balancing and debt reduction, or to continue to boldly invest in California’s future.”
Steve, they already focused on budged balancing. Successfully. That's what this article is supposedly about, idiot.
"I chuckled at the “debt reduction” reference. Have you ever known progressive Democrats to keep a lid on spending or to care about paring back the size of pension debt?"
Have we ever known progressive Democrats to keep a lid on spending? Yeah, in California right now. My God, they balanced the budget- something no Republican in history has ever done. It is only Democrats who ever keep a lid on spending. The last five Republican presidential terms exploded the deficit beyond anything ever heard of. The Clinton Presidency resulted in a balanced budget, squandered immediately by Republicans. Under much worse circumstances, and facing total obstruction, Obama has brought the deficit down every year. So, Steve, can the lying for once, please.
"They will indeed “invest” in California—and you know what investing means. They will throw money at programs and at government employees without improving accountability or insisting on reform."
Take it from a right wing liar with absolutely no evidence to present- that is what they will do. Not a chance that they will intelligently deal with the State's problems, like they did with the deficit. And not a chance that simply telling the truth to the people of California will result in them doing the right thing, as just happened with the deficit. No, people are way too greedy for that.
"Yes, the article is right that California’s Democratic leaders did systematically dismantle many of the taxpayer protections that stood in the way of their tax-raising plans, thanks to Brown's political skills and endless union cash. But that’s a political victory, not a fiscal blueprint."
It's a fiscal blueprint for a balanced budget, something that would be the Holy Grail of politics if a Republican ever managed to do anything but talk about it, but which is nothing but some sort of cynical plot to make things even worse when Bill Clinton or Jerry Brown do it.
"Brown and his allies killed the two-thirds budget-vote requirement, turning minority Republicans into an irrelevancy."
Praise the Lord! Because, that's apparently what it takes to get anything done in America today. And see how quickly it happens when Republicans are shoved to the sidelines. Time to learn from this, Harry Reid.
"Because of previous supermajority rules, the GOP could tie up budgets, but the result was forcing Democrats to look at the kind of budget cuts and fiscal restraints they abhor. No more."
Yeah, the day is gone when Democrats have to look at financially maiming 99% of the population so that rich people can go right on wrecking things and ending up richer than before. What a crying shame.
"Now, the GOP isn’t even included in the budget process."
Praise the...Oh, wait. I think I said that already.
"Now that this “success” has yielded Democratic legislative supermajorities, they can raise taxes whenever they choose. Maybe a moderate Democratic caucus will emerge, but even so-called moderates have always joined the majority when it comes to tax-raising."
Not a shred of evidence that anything like this is planned, of course, but who needs evidence when you're a Republican.
"The New Republic points to Democratic success at changing voting laws, allowing people to register online. That, along with the vast networking of grassroots and union organizing efforts, resulted in a massive wave of Democratic voters that gave Democrats new congressional seats and supermajority control of both houses of the state Legislature."
That's called "getting more votes; i.e.winning elections." There's something of a tradition of that in the United States, in case you didn't know that.
Oh, I should have said, "Winning elections Democratic style." Winning elections Republican style consists of using your majorities to Gerrymander electoral districts, and then doing anything you can pay for, illegal or not, to keep Democratic votes from being counted. And lying. Lots of lying.
"Yes, Democrats mustered the powerful interest groups that support them and then rigged the rules to gain more power in a state where the GOP already is on life support. Democratic activists can try to replicate this elsewhere, but I wouldn’t recommend that other states replicate the budget plan."
God forbid other States try this, or they might end up with a balanced budget too. That would be a scary fate.
"The Democratic budget blueprint remains the same: keep raising taxes. Dayen argued that Democrats still need to take on Prop. 13 (1978‘s historic property-tax limitation) and eliminate it for commercial property owners. He also called for raising other corporate taxes and imposing a severance tax on oil. Never mind that these tax hikes could crush the real-estate and oil-exploration rebounds that are crucial to the optimistic economic projections that will keep the budget coffers filled."
Of course, this Dayen is a magazine writer with no connection to the California Democrats or to Jerry Brown. And as for that imaginary oil-exploration rebound, gee, it would be really sad to see oil companies getting less money, wouldn't it?
"Supposedly, it’s a great victory now that the reform-fighting teachers, prison guards, and other unions can protect their unsustainable pensions..."
Pensions they worked all their lives to earn, and which were legally guaranteed to them. But of course who gives a God Damn about them, when more Republicans would mean that we could steal their money and use it to cut taxes for multinational corporations and oil companies. So, it is actually an honorable obligation to screw millions of people out of their legal property, as long as it is intended for a socially beneficial cause like making the Koch brothers richer.
"Instead of pulling us back from the ledge, the last election may have sent us charging over it. I do agree with Brown and The New Republic that other states ought to pay attention to what’s happening here. But they shouldn’t emulate it. They need to gear up and fight it."
Democrats have sent us over the ledge by accomplishing the claimed major objective of Conservatives everywhere- a balanced budget. States everywhere need to fight that! "Daddy, you got me that pony I've always wanted for Christmas! You son of a bitch."
The sheer unapologetic nerve of this sort of thinking is simply beyond comprehension by decent human beings. I give up- I'm stopping here.
"Progressive Failure Is On Full Display in California
Don’t follow the disastrous example set by the Golden State."
By Steven Greenhut
It's a disaster out here under the palm trees, what with our balanced budget and all, achieved without making the middle class and the poor pay for every cent of damage caused by the rich, yes sir. This is so convincing as I sit here in our study and look out over the canyon we live in, I just had to read further.
We live in misery out here.
"California’s modern-day progressive Democrats keep crowing about the huge success they’ve had in taming the state’s budget deficit thanks to Prop. 30’s tax increases and other “reforms,” and now are championing the Jerry Brown model as a blueprint for the nation. Be very afraid."
God forbid the whole nation should tame its budget deficit! No Conservative could ever be for a pinko idea like that, right? As soon as a Democrat balances a budget, hey, suddenly balanced budgets become a perverse left wing abomination. I can hardly wait for Steven to explain that one.
"It’s bad enough that other states have to deal with our residents, who are fleeing our success-punishing tax and regulatory regimen, but now, apparently, they are going to have to deal with our bad ideas, promoted through smug lectures from California’s liberal politicians."
Alabama- the free enterprise paradise that Californians are fleeing to.
Fleeing California residents? The only one I've heard about is that golf guy, and I think Florida can handle him. And sorry, Steve, those "smug lectures," which you are only imagining, would hardly begin to balance out the thousands of smug lectures we've had to listen to, about how we here in California are destroying Western Civilization by not being mean enough to poor people. Smug lectures, by the way, from Republicans living in States that, by and large, live off of Federal tax money paid by Democrats.
"Not surprisingly, the national media have been quick to tout California’s Democratic-led “renaissance.” For instance, The New Republic this week published a feature, “Back from the Brink,” about California progressives having “achieved the impossible” of a balanced budget.
“Progressive Democratic activists identified the straitjacket of rules that had the state tied up in knots, and devised a systematic plan to change them,” the magazine’s David Dayen argued. “Through massive organizing, they transformed the electorate and sidelined Republican obstructionists. Now, with surplus money on hand, they’re getting ready to fight a new battle over the next few years: whether to focus on budget balancing and debt reduction, or to continue to boldly invest in California’s future.”
Steve, they already focused on budged balancing. Successfully. That's what this article is supposedly about, idiot.
"I chuckled at the “debt reduction” reference. Have you ever known progressive Democrats to keep a lid on spending or to care about paring back the size of pension debt?"
Have we ever known progressive Democrats to keep a lid on spending? Yeah, in California right now. My God, they balanced the budget- something no Republican in history has ever done. It is only Democrats who ever keep a lid on spending. The last five Republican presidential terms exploded the deficit beyond anything ever heard of. The Clinton Presidency resulted in a balanced budget, squandered immediately by Republicans. Under much worse circumstances, and facing total obstruction, Obama has brought the deficit down every year. So, Steve, can the lying for once, please.
"They will indeed “invest” in California—and you know what investing means. They will throw money at programs and at government employees without improving accountability or insisting on reform."
Take it from a right wing liar with absolutely no evidence to present- that is what they will do. Not a chance that they will intelligently deal with the State's problems, like they did with the deficit. And not a chance that simply telling the truth to the people of California will result in them doing the right thing, as just happened with the deficit. No, people are way too greedy for that.
"Yes, the article is right that California’s Democratic leaders did systematically dismantle many of the taxpayer protections that stood in the way of their tax-raising plans, thanks to Brown's political skills and endless union cash. But that’s a political victory, not a fiscal blueprint."
It's a fiscal blueprint for a balanced budget, something that would be the Holy Grail of politics if a Republican ever managed to do anything but talk about it, but which is nothing but some sort of cynical plot to make things even worse when Bill Clinton or Jerry Brown do it.
"Brown and his allies killed the two-thirds budget-vote requirement, turning minority Republicans into an irrelevancy."
Praise the Lord! Because, that's apparently what it takes to get anything done in America today. And see how quickly it happens when Republicans are shoved to the sidelines. Time to learn from this, Harry Reid.
"Because of previous supermajority rules, the GOP could tie up budgets, but the result was forcing Democrats to look at the kind of budget cuts and fiscal restraints they abhor. No more."
Yeah, the day is gone when Democrats have to look at financially maiming 99% of the population so that rich people can go right on wrecking things and ending up richer than before. What a crying shame.
"Now, the GOP isn’t even included in the budget process."
Praise the...Oh, wait. I think I said that already.
"Now that this “success” has yielded Democratic legislative supermajorities, they can raise taxes whenever they choose. Maybe a moderate Democratic caucus will emerge, but even so-called moderates have always joined the majority when it comes to tax-raising."
Not a shred of evidence that anything like this is planned, of course, but who needs evidence when you're a Republican.
"The New Republic points to Democratic success at changing voting laws, allowing people to register online. That, along with the vast networking of grassroots and union organizing efforts, resulted in a massive wave of Democratic voters that gave Democrats new congressional seats and supermajority control of both houses of the state Legislature."
That's called "getting more votes; i.e.winning elections." There's something of a tradition of that in the United States, in case you didn't know that.
Oh, I should have said, "Winning elections Democratic style." Winning elections Republican style consists of using your majorities to Gerrymander electoral districts, and then doing anything you can pay for, illegal or not, to keep Democratic votes from being counted. And lying. Lots of lying.
"Yes, Democrats mustered the powerful interest groups that support them and then rigged the rules to gain more power in a state where the GOP already is on life support. Democratic activists can try to replicate this elsewhere, but I wouldn’t recommend that other states replicate the budget plan."
God forbid other States try this, or they might end up with a balanced budget too. That would be a scary fate.
"The Democratic budget blueprint remains the same: keep raising taxes. Dayen argued that Democrats still need to take on Prop. 13 (1978‘s historic property-tax limitation) and eliminate it for commercial property owners. He also called for raising other corporate taxes and imposing a severance tax on oil. Never mind that these tax hikes could crush the real-estate and oil-exploration rebounds that are crucial to the optimistic economic projections that will keep the budget coffers filled."
Of course, this Dayen is a magazine writer with no connection to the California Democrats or to Jerry Brown. And as for that imaginary oil-exploration rebound, gee, it would be really sad to see oil companies getting less money, wouldn't it?
"Supposedly, it’s a great victory now that the reform-fighting teachers, prison guards, and other unions can protect their unsustainable pensions..."
Pensions they worked all their lives to earn, and which were legally guaranteed to them. But of course who gives a God Damn about them, when more Republicans would mean that we could steal their money and use it to cut taxes for multinational corporations and oil companies. So, it is actually an honorable obligation to screw millions of people out of their legal property, as long as it is intended for a socially beneficial cause like making the Koch brothers richer.
"Instead of pulling us back from the ledge, the last election may have sent us charging over it. I do agree with Brown and The New Republic that other states ought to pay attention to what’s happening here. But they shouldn’t emulate it. They need to gear up and fight it."
Democrats have sent us over the ledge by accomplishing the claimed major objective of Conservatives everywhere- a balanced budget. States everywhere need to fight that! "Daddy, you got me that pony I've always wanted for Christmas! You son of a bitch."
The sheer unapologetic nerve of this sort of thinking is simply beyond comprehension by decent human beings. I give up- I'm stopping here.
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