What tweaks my sensibilities is that the slightest hint of regulation is now likened to a takeover. This aspect of political theatre cannot be avoided and cannot stand without an effective rebuttal within the same theatre. Tea Partiers and others are so challenged in their comprehension of any system with more than a couple of moving parts that they are ripe for the picking. These poor people are so downtrodden by life that they’re accustomed to simply taking what they are given and are consequently so distrustful that they’d bite the hand that feeds them long before they’d turn on those who tell them to be scared.
They’re already scared and it’s very easy to add one more fear to the boatload of fears they already have. A prime example is that progressive tax schedules will not affect them but they have so little already and are so fearful of losing what little they have that they can easily be tricked into taking up the rich man’s fight against taxation.
I still think there is an almost unanimous sense that corporations cannot be left to police themselves yet an irrational fear of government intrusion trumps that only because progressives consider themselves consumately rational and apparently everyone else for that matter.
So we have one side abiding by Marquess of Queensberry rules in what is essentially a street fight…a recipe for a butt-stomping. Those with slightly more sophistication realize that the greater fear is continued plunder of the system by those who can purchase influence which only indirectly takes something out of their pocket. Unfortunately this is a little harder to explain given the number of “moving parts”.
…time to fight fire with fire, don’t you think?
I appreciate the link and yes, it was a great read and very informative. Thank you, Pat, for helping me to digest it all, great comments. The problem is that the people who really need to be reading and understanding-aren’t.
As a social security/medicare recipient with widow’s benefits, I got sorely distracted by a blog headline entitled, “Are We Overpaying Grandpa? written by an economist from the U of Chicago: Casey Mulligan. Nobody told me that the average SS/Medicare recipient gets 40,000.00 annually in cash and benefits….What? Hey, come on folks, I worked hard and the best I can do in retirement is pay over half my income on rent so I don’t have to live with my kids. And yet, I make too much for food stamps. Good thing I am not a meat eater. I would go further into this but my blood pressure needs to come down..gotta go meditate now. Where is the rest of my money based on averages cited, I am short $36,000.00 a year??!! Kathleen (and we’re breathing….)
Not relevant to topic, but I found this when I googled Uwe Reinhardt.
Now the G(NO)P is threatening to bring congress to a standstill if dems try and pass HCR using reconciliation. And this is so different from what they’ve been doing since 1/21/08 in what way? Oh, maybe they’ll start holding their breath or falling down in the aisles throwing tantrums. I think the following pretty much sums up life since St. Ronnie’s day:
“If the Goverment is a car setting out to give every one a ride to work, then for 40 years the Republicans have been puncturing the tires, pouring sand in the gas tank, stealing the distributor cap, and, whenever they can get their hands on the wheel, driving it straight into the nearest ditch and then, pointing to the wreckage as the tow truck backs up to it, saying, ‘See, this proves that people were meant to walk.’ And they do this so that they don’t have to chip in on gas.” – Lance Mannion
IQ is what you are born with – and it’s not surprising that conservatives tend to the lower ranges because they are more easily led with sound bites and slogans.
But I’ve seen some bat-shit stupid statements from liberals, too. And I know more than a few folks not overly blessed with IQ whose hearts are pure gold. It’s not hard to persuade them if you demonstrate with patience the inequality of the current system and the goal of reform. Those people of average IQ who want reform but are opposed to the current proposal were lost when the process of passing reform became shamefully corrupt. If there’s any hope of regaining their support & their vote in November – the process from here to passage has to exclude special concessions – and we have to publicly rebuke and shame any attempts at extortion.
The final product – passed fairly – can’t be sold as the product of smarter minds. It has to be sold as a moral act. Times ARE hard – people ARE suffering – this IS the JUST thing to do.
This may come down to abortion – of all things – and I favor writing the legslation so badly in that area, that the courrts will throw it out. Give the moderate fetus people EVERYTHING they want, because a compromise MIGHT pass judicial review. Until the SC rules, I will kick in some to Planned Parenthood so they can bridge the need.
What tweaks my sensibilities is that the slightest hint of regulation is now likened to a takeover. This aspect of political theatre cannot be avoided and cannot stand without an effective rebuttal within the same theatre. Tea Partiers and others are so challenged in their comprehension of any system with more than a couple of moving parts that they are ripe for the picking. These poor people are so downtrodden by life that they’re accustomed to simply taking what they are given and are consequently so distrustful that they’d bite the hand that feeds them long before they’d turn on those who tell them to be scared.
They’re already scared and it’s very easy to add one more fear to the boatload of fears they already have. A prime example is that progressive tax schedules will not affect them but they have so little already and are so fearful of losing what little they have that they can easily be tricked into taking up the rich man’s fight against taxation.
I still think there is an almost unanimous sense that corporations cannot be left to police themselves yet an irrational fear of government intrusion trumps that only because progressives consider themselves consumately rational and apparently everyone else for that matter.
So we have one side abiding by Marquess of Queensberry rules in what is essentially a street fight…a recipe for a butt-stomping. Those with slightly more sophistication realize that the greater fear is continued plunder of the system by those who can purchase influence which only indirectly takes something out of their pocket. Unfortunately this is a little harder to explain given the number of “moving parts”.
…time to fight fire with fire, don’t you think?
I appreciate the link and yes, it was a great read and very informative. Thank you, Pat, for helping me to digest it all, great comments. The problem is that the people who really need to be reading and understanding-aren’t.
As a social security/medicare recipient with widow’s benefits, I got sorely distracted by a blog headline entitled, “Are We Overpaying Grandpa? written by an economist from the U of Chicago: Casey Mulligan. Nobody told me that the average SS/Medicare recipient gets 40,000.00 annually in cash and benefits….What? Hey, come on folks, I worked hard and the best I can do in retirement is pay over half my income on rent so I don’t have to live with my kids. And yet, I make too much for food stamps. Good thing I am not a meat eater. I would go further into this but my blood pressure needs to come down..gotta go meditate now. Where is the rest of my money based on averages cited, I am short $36,000.00 a year??!! Kathleen (and we’re breathing….)
Not relevant to topic, but I found this when I googled Uwe Reinhardt.
http://www.towntopics.com/aug3105/story3.html
Now the G(NO)P is threatening to bring congress to a standstill if dems try and pass HCR using reconciliation. And this is so different from what they’ve been doing since 1/21/08 in what way? Oh, maybe they’ll start holding their breath or falling down in the aisles throwing tantrums. I think the following pretty much sums up life since St. Ronnie’s day:
“If the Goverment is a car setting out to give every one a ride to work, then for 40 years the Republicans have been puncturing the tires, pouring sand in the gas tank, stealing the distributor cap, and, whenever they can get their hands on the wheel, driving it straight into the nearest ditch and then, pointing to the wreckage as the tow truck backs up to it, saying, ‘See, this proves that people were meant to walk.’ And they do this so that they don’t have to chip in on gas.” – Lance Mannion
IQ is what you are born with – and it’s not surprising that conservatives tend to the lower ranges because they are more easily led with sound bites and slogans.
But I’ve seen some bat-shit stupid statements from liberals, too. And I know more than a few folks not overly blessed with IQ whose hearts are pure gold. It’s not hard to persuade them if you demonstrate with patience the inequality of the current system and the goal of reform. Those people of average IQ who want reform but are opposed to the current proposal were lost when the process of passing reform became shamefully corrupt. If there’s any hope of regaining their support & their vote in November – the process from here to passage has to exclude special concessions – and we have to publicly rebuke and shame any attempts at extortion.
The final product – passed fairly – can’t be sold as the product of smarter minds. It has to be sold as a moral act. Times ARE hard – people ARE suffering – this IS the JUST thing to do.
This may come down to abortion – of all things – and I favor writing the legslation so badly in that area, that the courrts will throw it out. Give the moderate fetus people EVERYTHING they want, because a compromise MIGHT pass judicial review. Until the SC rules, I will kick in some to Planned Parenthood so they can bridge the need.