Thursday, December 20, 2012

How Many Politicians Can the 99% Buy?

commentary by Roger Erickson

Not sure whether to scream in frustration, vomit, or get drunk when you read the following kind of news? Now you know what Jesus, Gandhi and MLK all became aware of in their final days. The colossal extent of imbecility masquerading as Innocent Fraud is now fully exposed, and it's decision time. Do you want to "be" personally successful, or "do" something to save your nation?  Today, the threat is not from Rome or Britain, but from the monolitihic rentiers who own Orthodox Economics and, by default, our country. If you want to hedge your bets while being a martyr, maybe buy stock in antiemetic producers.

St. Louis Fed ‏@stlouisfed
Video: What are the realistic alternatives to bringing the federal budget deficit under control?

Maya MacGuineas’s CEO-powered crusade against the deficit

As a citizen, I felt soiled after reading the Maya MacGuineas article. As a point of principle I'd canceled my WashPost subscription years ago, but my wife recently insisted upon starting it up again just to read the comics & do the crossword puzzles when her mom visits.

The shame.  Surely the only way to go from here is up?  Is that the only strand of optimism we can cling to?  It really is decision time.


3 comments:

wilwon32 said...

Upon perusing the WaPo article, it appears that most/all commenters seem to share your opinion of the propaganda efforts of Maya MacGuineas.

Your comments in "Time to buy stock ..." leaves little to the imagination as regards your opinion of MM's promotional efforts. I have frequently wondered why contributors to various of the MMT blog sites haven't attempted to challenge the "debt-/deficit-hawks" to an open debate in one or more of the MSM propaganda organs such as the WaPo. Bill Mitchell and LR Wray occasionally criticize the "d/d-h" arguments on their own turf (blog sites), but not on the space/turf of [an independent's or] an opponent's turf. Thus, the general public only ever gets to read/hear one side as result of the imbalance in readership (effective censorship of the MMT view).

At the obvious risk of denial, it would appear that this occasion represents an opportunity to object/correct via the comments and to suggest that the WaPo offer the option of a contrary opinion piece in which a point-by-point critique is provided using MMT-consistent analyses/alternative opinions. As an example, Stephanie Kelton has already presented what appeared to me to be a satisfactory analysis of the "d/d-h" delimna and explanation on several occasions.

Tom Hickey said...

Interesting article. The usual suspects come up as her mentors — Alan Simpson and Pete Peterson.

Also this:

Critics charge that MacGuineas’s campaign is simply a ploy by chief executives to push forlower corporate tax rates and head off automatic budget cuts in such areas as defense that would hurt their bottom line. Even fans of MacGuineas’s, including the American Enterprise Institute’s Kevin Hassett, argue that her campaign is giving cover to self-interested players who “wanted to look virtuous.”

Roger Erickson said...

while the WashPo comments weren't as bad as the article, the recruitment rate of real F500 CEOs & real campaign $ is truly nauseous

Parroting Stalin re the Pope, Pete Peterson & the Koch bro's may have asked Maya MacGuineas, "How many politicians can the 99% buy?"