SAR #10176

Democracy has all too often led to tyranny.

Unforgettable:   "It adds new taxes..."  said Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, explaining why the GOP just couldn't add $30 billion (0.2%) to the deficit just to let the unemployed eat, see a doctor, or keep their homes.  He did not explain how it differed from giving several trillion to Wall Street under the Bush administration.

Get Out Of Jail Free:   The Roberts Court, bowing to the wishes of Goldman Sachs and the rest of the banksters, again made it clear that corporate managerial theft is not illegal.   The Honest Services Statue, they ruled, only applies to crude bribery and simple kickbacks;  not to the sophisticated thefts committed on Wall Street.

Observed:  “The US Ranks Worst of Seven Countries on Health Care System.”

Morons, One and All:   Ever since proposition 13 became law in California, the conservative movement has been committed to "no new taxes", content to watch the erosion of state and local government services as the ability to pay for them disappeared.   And despite the evidence, they still pretend that low (or preferably no) taxation will cause a return to the expansive growth of yesteryear.   But the 150 years of economic growth was built on the expanding consumption of oil in the economy – taxes had little to do with it.   Without cheap and available oil, conservative economic theory is a fantasy and capitalism is unsustainable..  For without oil there will be no growth, no surplus from which to pay interest and repay debt.  'Sustainable capitalism' is an oxymoron.

Jobs! Bank of America has announced it will contribute to the economic upturn by hiring 2,000 new staffers to handle the rapid growth in its foreclosure department.

Nearsighted:   A  new poll shows that 48% of respondents were too stupid to understand that the only reason they have any rights at all is because the federal government says they do and provides the police and the courts to enforce them.

Complete the Series: It takes Water and Energy to grow Food. We are running out of Energy. We are running out of Water. Thus …

“As Sexy As It Gets”:   An oil company - a repeat felon subject to record fines for its willful safety violations and whose initials are 'BP' - is getting around a ban on drilling in the sea off Alaska by building a small gravel mound and calling it an island, then drilling down two miles, turning left and going another 8 miles to hit an underwater petroleum reservoir.  This will be the longest “extended reach” ever attempted.   BP's engineers and lawyers are all delighted, saying “it doesn't get any better than this.”

Employment Stabilization:   Since last Christmas the weekly new unemployment claims figure has been stuck at 450,000.  Write when you get work.

The Essence: Between those on the market and houses in serious delinquency or some stage of foreclosure, there are 11.6 million houses in inventory.  Last month less than half a million sold. If not another house was built and not another house entered foreclosure, it would take two years to sell off the supply. Sing me that song about recovery, again.

Shadowy Government:  It's come to this:   The GOP says it will filibuster, then the Democrats say “okay, we give up,”  and the media reports nothing. For example, the GOP said it is tired of letting the long term unemployed eat, so the Democrats took the rest of the day off.  Thus 1.2 million of the 9.5 million unemployed will lose their benefits at month's end and soon thereafter lose their health coverage, eventually their cars and their homes.  We knew the Republicans simply do not like the unemployed, but where the hell did the Democrats go?