SAR #13063

Where's the outrage?

Be Prepared: As we enter the magical land of sequestration, just keep in mind that the deficit is falling at the fastest rate since the end of WWII. It is not rising. We are not about to drown. The sky is not falling and we do not need any of the current nonsense. It's all politics and it's all about funneling even more money to the 1%.

Cave-In:President Barack Obama, reprising his role as Br'er Rabbit, was last seen running down the street chasing John Boehner, waving cuts in Social Security and Medicare, in hopes of getting another date with The Tan One. Obama calls it “reaching out”. I call it surrendering while you're ahead. Note to self: Explain once more to the folks that Social Security does not contribute to the debt nor deficit and that Medicare needs to stop paying ridiculous prices for services. But maybe it won't matter, the Republicans don't seem to be hearing the President, even when he's surrendering.

Exceptionalism:While the government is 'sequestering' things like school lunch programs, food stamps, health services and paying the troops, APIAC wants to make sure that Congress exempts the annual $3 billion in conscience money delivered to Israel to help them keep the Palestinians in squalor and away from their native lands. Israel first, everybody else second.

Asked & Answered: The Washington Post asks “Is slow growth America's new normal?” No, slow decline is.

Unlimited Limits: If Apple does not approve of an email sent via iCloud, it simply does not deliver it. Which means they are reading and passing judgment on every email you send through their server. Just like NSA, except the NSA just takes notes and passes them along. (Okay, seems Apple stopped when they got caught. NSA didn't.)

Playbook: The sequester is not a government shutdown like previous Republican miss-judgments. The sequester's effects will be felt incrementally and in various places and for various constituencies at different times. Government grants and contracts for services will be the first to go, then layoffs and furloughs will begin as the weeks go by. There will be lots of loud hand-wringing and crocodile tears from both sides long before the nasty effects set it. But the nasty effects will set in. Some you will see in coming months, far more when you come to retire. Or not, as will more often become the case. Apply for those greeter jobs early, there's going to be a lot of competition.

Not The News: Someone who makes far too much money just noticed, “New Cars Increasingly Out of Reach for Many Americans.” Wowser, really?

A Long and Winding Road: If you think racial equality has come to the United States, you haven't been paying attention. Not to our poverty statistics. Not to the makeup of our prison population. Not to our educational achievements or lack thereof. Nor to the Supreme Court as it continues to shred any hope of equality, with Antonin Scalia in the forefront of the charge back to the early 1800's. The civil rights struggle is not over, it's slipping into reverse.

Usual Suspects: More than 30 "top economists and financial experts” say the US economy will not recover until the big, insolvent (I repeat myself) banks are broken up. How many can you name? (Note: No credit given for Krugman, Stiglitz, Reich, Dean Baker, Sheila Bain, or Bill Black. Extra credit if you cited Alan Greenspan.)

Unwelcome Truths: A group from UC Berkeley and U Toronto have concluded that "the rich behave more unethically and greedily than lower-class individuals.” Well, there goes their funding.

Goals: Don't be fooled into thinking any of this is about the philosophy of government. It is not. It is about the Republicans and the New Republicans (as the old Democratic Party has become) both serving the same master: It's about the rich vs the rest of us and the rich are winning have won.

Porn O'Graph: Down, boy.

The Parting Shot:

Sequestration, old style.