Atrios says that if the Grand Bargain comes we should get on the horn and call our reps, senators and White House. But why stop there?
If the people who really count are the Very Serious People like David Gregory, Thomas Friedman and David Gergen, then shouldn’t they find out just how much the Average American doesn’t want cuts to their pre-paid social insurance benefits?
These VSPs don’t mingle with the rest of us but maybe it’s time they found out how many of us there are and that we’re not putting up with any bullshit. We worked for our social insurance benefits, we paid through the nose for them and we’re demanding every penny back, with no cuts. In fact, we’ve put up with a lot in our working lives including crazy hours, expensive daycare and reduced pensions, if we’re lucky. I think we deserve a raise. Raise the Social Security benefit so we can retire with the same lifestyle as our parents.
The last thing we need is a bunch of patrician thumbsuckers telling us to make more sacrifices so they don’t have to pay more in taxes. I don’t know who these VSPs think they are but I’m sick of their shit.
They ought to know that there is life beyond the Beltway cocktail circuit and we are not amused.
Filed under: General | Tagged: Call the VSPs, David Gergen, David Gregory, grand bargain, medicare, Social Security, Thomas Friedman, Very Serious People |
The Confluence 
“Before it comes” might be better. “After it has already came” may be too late, given that no Catfood Cut made will ever be rescinded or reversed.
What does anyone else think of the following thought . . . maybe those of us who have not yet de-registered from the Democratic Party and who still think the right form of non-violent non-illegal pressure might still be effective against DemParty officeholders . . . should go ahead and de-register from the Democratic Party NOW. And either re-register as “Independent” or re-register into the Third Party of our choice. And once we have done that for real in a provable way, we can then contact our DemParty officeholders and operatives and offer to re-register back into the Democratic Party IFF! Medicare and Social Security are not changed or altered or even so much as MENtioned in any legislation between now and Next Election Day.
My theory is that offers to come BACK to the Dparty IF the Dparty officeholders aCHIEVE what we WANT achieved might be more effective than threats or even promises to LEAVE the Dparty if it perMITS those changes which we reJECT.
Does anyone else have any thoughts on the matter?
The Democratic Party won’t have many voters left after the Grand Betrayal. They’re handing the Congress and the Presidency back to the GOP in 2014-2016. I think calling is fine, we should do something, but we have to organize outside of the two-party duopoly.
Well, for now I begin to think my idea might be good enough if enough people followed it for now that I might bestir myself to get up and do it. If I follow through, I will let you know. It certainly wouldn’t prevent the same people from organizing as well in parallel and for the long term.
A question occurs to me . . . since we know that President Bill Clinton is a very effective advocate/lobbyist for policies he wants to see achieved . . . does anyone know where President Clinton stands on the BS Obama Catfood Plan? Is he for it? Is he against it? Is he for parts of it? Has he said anything about it in a publicly proven scientifically verifiable way?
By now, if someone felt they had an answer to this question, they would have offered their answer. In the absence of an answer, I will offer a prediction based on mere intuition. My theory of Bill Clinton leads me to predict that he will support the BS Obama Catfood Plan against Medicare and Social Security both, either in private (where we will never know) or in public (where we will get to hear about it). If my prediction turns out completely wrong, you all can laugh at me as long and loud as you like.
The very important people inconvenienced need to include the funders behind the “bargain”: at the least Pete Peterson, the Koch Brothers, and that Sheldon Abelson dude. The Koch brothers now conveniently have moved from Kansas to Manjattan and the Hamptons. They were the major roadblock to Sandy relief and own four or five state Republican parties and through them have at least tentative hooks on the House of Representatives and the states involved (Kansas, Michigan, Wisconsin and they certainly have a hold on Ohio and Pennsylvania). Peterson has been pushing the deficit thing for at least 30 years. Both Peterson and the two Kochs are in their 70s and the Kochs have significantly increased their wealth through privatization of government assets.
By significantly increased I mean three or four fold. Each of these bums has a net worth of $42 billion. They are up there with the individual Waltons, Buffett, and Gates.
What are some ideas on how to do that? And if the Kochs and Peterson and Adelson are beyond our reach, how can we target and inconvenience their various layers of henchscum?
David Koch’s Southamton address is:
David Koch
880 Meadow Lane
Southampton, NY 11968
The address was posted when Koch held a fundraiser for Romney last summer and move on assembled some protestors. The riffraff were separated from the rich by the Secret Service. David Koch is the more political of the brothers and the driving force behind their libertarian views (he was once the Libertarian candidate for Vice President back when they lived in Kansas). Now it’s the Hamptons and Manhattan but organizing to prevent aid for Sandy and against raising taxes.
C’mon, the only thing that will stop this bus is a coup. We are no longer a Democracy/[or Representative Republic] let’s stop the pretense and take away the welfare for pols, lawyers and lobbyists. Let them go out and look for a job in the wasteland they’ve created.
Nothing would please me more than to see some high flying pol, lawyer, or lobbyist competing with 3rd world workers for a job flipping burgers…because the kabuki show is over and they are no longer needed.
Off topic: Hmmm, I don’t remember Pinky and the Brain as looking like THIS:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCpdDS3L2xs