One of the best thing's about Paul Krugman is how he regularly
skewers Republican talking points. For instance, Republicans have been
running around with their hair on fire for years now, insisting that
Obamacare would destroy jobs and that raising taxes on the rich would
finish the job. But, as Krugman points out:
You'd think that after years of being wrong, and one full year
of being breathtakingly wrong, that Republicans would at least
begrudgingly admit that maybe Democrats have a point. After all,
California's Governor Jerry Brown raised taxes on the rich. The result?
After year's of massive budget deficits, California has a massive
surplus and the world's eighth largest economy has exploded. Meanwhile,
the dreaded Obamacare has dramatically slowed the growth of healthcare
premiums, insured millions of people that lacked even basic coverage and
even come in under budget. All of which is indisputably good for the
economy.
But, you'll be shocked to learn, Republicans don't care about these
facts. Partly, I'm sure you've guessed, in the GOP's unprecedented
hatred of Obama and the fact that he even exists. But most of it is the
mile high pile of bullcrap that Republicans must sell the country in order to justify their very existence:
That's why, no matter
what is happening in the real world, Republicans will never EVER deviate
from their talking point that Democrats are "job killers." Here we are,
5 years into a record breaking job growth streak and they're STILL
saying that Obama is destroying the economy. They can read a chart just
as well as you or I so unless they've all sustained severe brain damage
(a possibility from spending all that time on Fox News), Republicans are
clearly lying through their teeth.
But the last part of the con game is the most obnoxious because it leads directly to the most suffering:
In other words, we must
never ever say anything mean about the greed, corruption and
sociopathic behavior of the rich or they'll take their toys and go home.
Under no circumstances must the government regulate the big
corporations! Sure, they poison our food, our water and our air. Yes,
they deliberately sell cars and toys that they know for a fact are
lethal. OK, so they've rigged the markets to steal billions from
ordinary Americans. But if we uphold the law and start throwing people
in jail for criminal behavior that destroys lives, they'll stop creating
jobs and America will be doomed!
Oh, and if we don't
give them billions in tax cuts, let them pay their workers less and
stroke their massive egos, the economy will immediately collapse and
we'll all die starving in the street.
Or so Republicans would
have us believe. The rich know better than us peasants so we should
just bend over and take it with a smile or things will somehow get
worse.
Of course, reality has a
liberal bias and the economy is growing despite every obstacle
Republicans have thrown in its path. Red states that pursued austerity
for the peasants while cutting taxes for the rich are collapsing and
blue states that did the opposite are booming. There MUST be a tipping
point where even the most hardcore right winger will notice that
California isn't falling into the ocean from all those high taxes on the
rich while conservative tax cutting utopias like Kansas, Texas and
Louisiana are seeing their economies meltdown.
Until then, Republicans
will keep running their con on Americans and hope no one notices that
they keep being wrong on everything.
skewers Republican talking points. For instance, Republicans have been
running around with their hair on fire for years now, insisting that
Obamacare would destroy jobs and that raising taxes on the rich would
finish the job. But, as Krugman points out:
You'd think that after years of being wrong, and one full year
of being breathtakingly wrong, that Republicans would at least
begrudgingly admit that maybe Democrats have a point. After all,
California's Governor Jerry Brown raised taxes on the rich. The result?
After year's of massive budget deficits, California has a massive
surplus and the world's eighth largest economy has exploded. Meanwhile,
the dreaded Obamacare has dramatically slowed the growth of healthcare
premiums, insured millions of people that lacked even basic coverage and
even come in under budget. All of which is indisputably good for the
economy.
But, you'll be shocked to learn, Republicans don't care about these
facts. Partly, I'm sure you've guessed, in the GOP's unprecedented
hatred of Obama and the fact that he even exists. But most of it is the
mile high pile of bullcrap that Republicans must sell the country in order to justify their very existence:
That's why, no matter
what is happening in the real world, Republicans will never EVER deviate
from their talking point that Democrats are "job killers." Here we are,
5 years into a record breaking job growth streak and they're STILL
saying that Obama is destroying the economy. They can read a chart just
as well as you or I so unless they've all sustained severe brain damage
(a possibility from spending all that time on Fox News), Republicans are
clearly lying through their teeth.
But the last part of the con game is the most obnoxious because it leads directly to the most suffering:
In other words, we must
never ever say anything mean about the greed, corruption and
sociopathic behavior of the rich or they'll take their toys and go home.
Under no circumstances must the government regulate the big
corporations! Sure, they poison our food, our water and our air. Yes,
they deliberately sell cars and toys that they know for a fact are
lethal. OK, so they've rigged the markets to steal billions from
ordinary Americans. But if we uphold the law and start throwing people
in jail for criminal behavior that destroys lives, they'll stop creating
jobs and America will be doomed!
Oh, and if we don't
give them billions in tax cuts, let them pay their workers less and
stroke their massive egos, the economy will immediately collapse and
we'll all die starving in the street.
Or so Republicans would
have us believe. The rich know better than us peasants so we should
just bend over and take it with a smile or things will somehow get
worse.
Of course, reality has a
liberal bias and the economy is growing despite every obstacle
Republicans have thrown in its path. Red states that pursued austerity
for the peasants while cutting taxes for the rich are collapsing and
blue states that did the opposite are booming. There MUST be a tipping
point where even the most hardcore right winger will notice that
California isn't falling into the ocean from all those high taxes on the
rich while conservative tax cutting utopias like Kansas, Texas and
Louisiana are seeing their economies meltdown.
Until then, Republicans
will keep running their con on Americans and hope no one notices that
they keep being wrong on everything.
