John Burton isn’t one to hold his tongue, and if you are on the CDP’s email list, you’ll know that by now. But that doesn’t make today’s email any less notable, if only for the tone and strength of its message.
What some might call it a “deal” or “compromise” I would call capitulation to the Republicans.
Just as we do not negotiate with international terrorists, we must stand up to the political terrorism of the Republicans in the United States Senate.
At some point, the American people have to know what kind of people these Republicans are. They may never find out if the Republicans can force their view point on the Administration, splitting the Democratic Party.
The Republicans rant against the deficit, but they give billions, approaching trillions, of tax cuts to millionaires and billionaires.
So, what have we got here? A message calling the Republicans terrorists and President Obama a modern day Neville Chamberlain. Of course, he is far from the only one. Democracy for America worked with Sen. Bernie Sanders to attack the plan as “reprehensible”, and Sen. Sanders later put out a release attacking Republicans for failing to adopt an Amendment to provide additional breaks for those receiving Social Security.
You got all that? Millions to each of thousands of millionaires and billionaires? Yay! $250 to millions of social security recipients? Too expensive. It’s amazing how that works, despite the fact that any economist will tell you that the way you get people working is to distribute money to the poorest end of the spectrum, and let the multiplier take its turn.
Look, the plan won’t necessarily hurt the economy in the short term, but it is a huge missed opportunity to help provide additional funds into the economy. We’re wasting it on people who don’t need it (but desperately lobby for it) instead of providing for those who could use it to get from day to day. It is short sighted in the extreme, and it is good to see John Burton, and whomever else joins the chorus, in objecting in these terms.
http://voices.washingtonpost.c…
And I thank chairman Burton for not holding his tongue. Civility has no place while we’re being robbed blind by the monied interests who are now firmly in control of the levers of power in our government.
The chair plainly understands what every other sane political watcher does–that the Republicans intend to use the subsequent rise in the deficit to call for massive cuts to social spending. This will further shred the social safety net and expose the neediest part of our population to more insecurity and peril.
The other unfortunate effect will be the slow strangulation of our economic system. Since it is based on consumption, as the majority of our population has less and less to spend, the global economic death star can only grow by finding consumers elsewhere. If they continue their intensive campaign to hold down wages in developing countries, they are unlikely to find them. Only then will they realize that you cannot build a consumer economy on the starving bodies of the homeless.