The war on the poor gets a huge infusion from democrats

Submitted by snoopydawg on Fri, 11/15/2019 - 12:30pm

Senate Democrats Join GOP to Back 'Automatic Austerity' Bill That Would Gut Social Programs, Hamstring Bold Policies

A handful of Senate Democrats joined forces with Republicans last week to advance sweeping budget legislation that would establish an "automatic deficit-reduction process" that could trigger trillions of dollars in cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, food stamps, and other social programs—and potentially hobble the agenda of the next president.

The Bipartisan Congressional Budget Reform Act (S.2765), authored by Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) and Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), passed out of the Senate Budget Committee on November 6. The legislation is co-sponsored by five members of the Senate Democratic caucus: Whitehouse, Mark Warner (Va.), Tim Kaine (Va.), Chris Coons (Del.), and Angus King (I-Maine).

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), the ranking member of the Senate Budget Committee and a 2020 Democratic presidential candidate, issued a statement last week opposing the legislation and warning it "could be used by Republicans to unilaterally cut programs like Medicare, Medicaid, and nutrition assistance—all supposedly to reduce the deficit."

"This new proposed process comes less than two years after Republicans on this Committee showed no hesitation in adding $2 trillion to the deficit in order to pass the Trump tax cuts for the wealthiest families and the most profitable corporations in America," said Sanders.

As The American Prospect's David Dayen noted Thursday, passage of S.2765 would severely hamstring Sanders' ability to implement his agenda should he win the White House in 2020.

"If a Democrat wants to extend free public college to all Americans, or move toward a universal healthcare system, or amass resources to fight the climate crisis," Dayen wrote, "they're going to run into the deficit scolds, the 'No, We Can't' brigade. Republicans like Enzi want to build that 'No, We Can't' presumption into the budget process itself. It makes no sense for Democrats to help them.

For the most part, cuts would have to come out of mandatory programs, like health spending and nutrition assistance for the poor. (Social Security is protected from reconciliation and could not be cut.)...

[T]he past three budget resolutions passed by Congress would have, under this bill, forced automatic reconciliation deficit cuts with a staggering total of $9.5 trillion.

The vote to advance S.2765 out of the Senate Budget Committee came after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Democrats must commit to so-called "pay-go" rules, which require all new spending to be offset with budget cuts or tax increases.

"We cannot just keep increasing the debt," Pelosi told Bloomberg earlier this month.

Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Democrats must commit to so-called "pay-go" rules, which require all new spending to be offset with budget cuts or tax increases.

FINE! Increase taxes on the upper class and corporations that have been getting a free ride in this country at the expense of the middle and lower classes for far too long. This ain't rocket science, Nancy. You know damn well that this will hurt millions of elderly, disabled, poor and especially children whose parents are already working 2 and 3 jobs just to make ends meet already. This bill is callously cruel and my contempt for everyone involved in passing it is off the charts. The banks are being slushed with BILLIONS every day and although Warren said she wants to talk about that, but no one is talking about that. The impeachment hearings are just one more distraction from congress stripping us of what they should be protecting. I am livid about this. Nancy and her fellow congress asshats are telling me that my life is not worth buckus to them. F them all. My life and others here are just as important as they think theirs are! This will affect everyone who relies on Medicare eventually. And I don't think for a minute that social security is safe from those ghouls.

Tags:

Class Warfare

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Comments

Submitted by snoopydawg on Fri, 11/15/2019 - 12:35pm

From the comments

This is one of the reasons the Dems are holding impeachment hearings now.

Gives them cover to pursue their true agenda, which is the same as the Republicans’, except perhaps slightly more polite language.

The only thing worse than the fact that Trump is POTUS is the fact that people think that Democrats are opposition. But they are not. They are his enablers now, & when he is gone they will normalize every last bit of Trump awfulness the same way Obama normalized & expanded all the Bush awfulness

Amen!

Submitted by Dr. John Carpenter on Fri, 11/15/2019 - 1:20pm

It’s a shell game every damn time!

@snoopydawg Just like clockwork. And why not? The public falls for it every damn time.

I saw this today had had the same thought. I was just waiting for what they were going to sneak though and it looks like this is it.

Sigh.

—

Idolizing a politician is like believing the stripper really likes you.

Submitted by Alligator Ed on Fri, 11/15/2019 - 1:14pm

Last time I looked, Pogo was a swamp critter

Oh, it's pay-go you say. Why didn't I think of that? We pay for wars--just have the Fed print more electronic money and add it to MIC bank accounts. But, you want health care!? Silly person. You and I and others here exist merely for the treasure and entertainment of the ruling class. We get tossed aside when we become expendable ( = sick, resource-using, too old to work, etc.)

The quotation

The only thing worse than the fact that Trump is POTUS is the fact that people think that Democrats are opposition. But they are not. They are his enablers now, & when he is gone they will normalize every last bit of Trump awfulness the same way Obama normalized & expanded all the Bush awfulness

is so true that it is not parody but perfidy visualized.

Submitted by lizzyh7 on Fri, 11/15/2019 - 2:01pm

Wait for it.

I imagine some apologist will come and remind us all of how we just have to hold their feet to the fire once we elect a Democrat - why, that Democrat will come in and merely reverse all this madness and save America! How can we not believe in them, they're all we've got after all and we just need to be patient, polite and reasonable and they'll get 'er done. Oh wait, we've seen this movie before? Well, never you mind now, just pretend you haven't seen it and drive on with Impeachment, that'll solve EVERYTHING.

—

Only a fool lets someone else tell him who his enemy is. Assata Shakur

Submitted by Snode on Fri, 11/15/2019 - 3:32pm

That's what "more and better"

democrats get you. Vote for the candidate of your choice and you're a traitor to the party if it's not the establishment dem. Whitehouse, Warner, Kane...maybe if people didn't have to hold their nose so often when they vote they could smell the rats sooner.

Submitted by Daenerys on Fri, 11/15/2019 - 6:20pm

Vote blue no matter who!

@Snode

—

This shit is bananas.

Submitted by snoopydawg on Sat, 11/16/2019 - 12:10am

The people who didn't vote for democrats during Obama's

@Snode

tenure in the midterms are still being blamed for democrats losing the senate. It's my fault that I refused to vote for one of them instead of it being their fault for letting me down and not doing what they said they were. Us purity voters are always the ones who did wrong to the democrats and not the other way around. This type of thinking infuriates me because people like that give democrats cover to do whatever they want. It wasn't Obama's fault for making back room deals with the insurance companies. Oh no.. it was my fault for asking for that damn pony. And Obama is still being idolized by those people who can't see that he sold us out. And today he told a room full of rich people that the leftists on Twitter are going too far left. F him too!

Submitted by snoopydawg on Sat, 11/16/2019 - 12:44am

Here is what Obama is saying

@snoopydawg

Barack Obama 2008 (net worth $1m-$5m): Hope & Change

Barack Obama 2019 (net worth $40m): Activism is actually bad https://t.co/5C1npuA9y7

— Walker Bragman (@WalkerBragman) November 16, 2019

That he is telling us that we can't have what we want and should just go with what we are given after he is out making millions and spending them on creature comforts while so many people are struggling is just....well you all can fill in the blank here. What I want to say isn't for polite society. He and Michelle just bought a $15 million home in the Hamptons. The Clintons only bought one for $2 million after they got done screwing us, but then Obama had his grifting setup before he left office.

Here is the article.

Obama Says Average American Doesn’t Want to ‘Tear Down System’

Former President Barack Obama, in an address to liberal donors, warned candidates not to go too far left and sought to calm those who were concerned about the state of the Democratic primary.

Former President Barack Obama offered an unusual warning to the Democratic primary field on Friday evening, cautioning the candidates not to move too far to the left in their policy proposals, even as he sought to reassure a party establishment worried about the electoral strength of their historically large primary field.

Speaking before a room of wealthy liberal donors, Mr. Obama urged Democrats to remember the long, combative slog of his primary campaign against Hillary Clinton in 2008, arguing that the 16 month battle ultimately made him a stronger general election candidate.

“For those who get stressed about robust primaries, I just have to remind you I had a very robust primary,” he told the group of several hundred donors and organizational leaders in Washington. “I’m confident that at the end of the process we will have a candidate that has been tested.”

Yet, he also raised concerns about some of the liberal ideas being promoted by some candidates, citing health care and immigration as issues where the proposals may have gone further than public opinion.

While Mr. Obama did not single out any specific primary candidate or policy proposal, he cautioned that the universe of voters that could support a Democratic candidate — Democrats, independents and moderate Republicans — are not driven by the same views reflected on “certain left-leaning Twitter feeds” or “the activist wing of our party.”

“Even as we push the envelope and we are bold in our vision we also have to be rooted in reality,” Mr. Obama said. “The average American doesn’t think we have to completely tear down the system and remake it.”

Tear it down I say. We don't need to reinvent the wheel for implementing universal health care because other countries have already done that and we can follow what they did. Boy it must be nice to be able to spout platitudes from his high perch that he only attained by selling us out.

Submitted by snoopydawg on Sat, 11/16/2019 - 12:33am

Yup

@snoopydawg

Peasants using social media to organize and advocate is such an irrelevant phenomenon that a former president of the most powerful global empire in history has taken it upon himself to remind everyone how irrelevant it is.

— Gallifreyan Jedi (@JediofGallifrey) November 16, 2019

#4.2

Barack Obama 2008 (net worth $1m-$5m): Hope & Change

Barack Obama 2019 (net worth $40m): Activism is actually bad https://t.co/5C1npuA9y7

— Walker Bragman (@WalkerBragman) November 16, 2019

That he is telling us that we can't have what we want and should just go with what we are given after he is out making millions and spending them on creature comforts while so many people are struggling is just....well you all can fill in the blank here. What I want to say isn't for polite society. He and Michelle just bought a $15 million home in the Hamptons. The Clintons only bought one for $2 million after they got done screwing us, but then Obama had his grifting setup before he left office.

Here is the article.

Obama Says Average American Doesn’t Want to ‘Tear Down System’

Former President Barack Obama, in an address to liberal donors, warned candidates not to go too far left and sought to calm those who were concerned about the state of the Democratic primary.

Former President Barack Obama offered an unusual warning to the Democratic primary field on Friday evening, cautioning the candidates not to move too far to the left in their policy proposals, even as he sought to reassure a party establishment worried about the electoral strength of their historically large primary field.

Speaking before a room of wealthy liberal donors, Mr. Obama urged Democrats to remember the long, combative slog of his primary campaign against Hillary Clinton in 2008, arguing that the 16 month battle ultimately made him a stronger general election candidate.

“For those who get stressed about robust primaries, I just have to remind you I had a very robust primary,” he told the group of several hundred donors and organizational leaders in Washington. “I’m confident that at the end of the process we will have a candidate that has been tested.”

Yet, he also raised concerns about some of the liberal ideas being promoted by some candidates, citing health care and immigration as issues where the proposals may have gone further than public opinion.

While Mr. Obama did not single out any specific primary candidate or policy proposal, he cautioned that the universe of voters that could support a Democratic candidate — Democrats, independents and moderate Republicans — are not driven by the same views reflected on “certain left-leaning Twitter feeds” or “the activist wing of our party.”

“Even as we push the envelope and we are bold in our vision we also have to be rooted in reality,” Mr. Obama said. “The average American doesn’t think we have to completely tear down the system and remake it.”

Tear it down I say. We don't need to reinvent the wheel for implementing universal health care because other countries have already done that and we can follow what they did. Boy it must be nice to be able to spout platitudes from his high perch that he only attained by selling us out.

Submitted by Centaurea on Sat, 11/16/2019 - 1:47am

How in hell

@snoopydawg

could Obama possibly know what the average American wants or thinks?

#4.2

Barack Obama 2008 (net worth $1m-$5m): Hope & Change

Barack Obama 2019 (net worth $40m): Activism is actually bad https://t.co/5C1npuA9y7

— Walker Bragman (@WalkerBragman) November 16, 2019

That he is telling us that we can't have what we want and should just go with what we are given after he is out making millions and spending them on creature comforts while so many people are struggling is just....well you all can fill in the blank here. What I want to say isn't for polite society. He and Michelle just bought a $15 million home in the Hamptons. The Clintons only bought one for $2 million after they got done screwing us, but then Obama had his grifting setup before he left office.

Here is the article.

Obama Says Average American Doesn’t Want to ‘Tear Down System’

Former President Barack Obama, in an address to liberal donors, warned candidates not to go too far left and sought to calm those who were concerned about the state of the Democratic primary.

Former President Barack Obama offered an unusual warning to the Democratic primary field on Friday evening, cautioning the candidates not to move too far to the left in their policy proposals, even as he sought to reassure a party establishment worried about the electoral strength of their historically large primary field.

Speaking before a room of wealthy liberal donors, Mr. Obama urged Democrats to remember the long, combative slog of his primary campaign against Hillary Clinton in 2008, arguing that the 16 month battle ultimately made him a stronger general election candidate.

“For those who get stressed about robust primaries, I just have to remind you I had a very robust primary,” he told the group of several hundred donors and organizational leaders in Washington. “I’m confident that at the end of the process we will have a candidate that has been tested.”

Yet, he also raised concerns about some of the liberal ideas being promoted by some candidates, citing health care and immigration as issues where the proposals may have gone further than public opinion.

While Mr. Obama did not single out any specific primary candidate or policy proposal, he cautioned that the universe of voters that could support a Democratic candidate — Democrats, independents and moderate Republicans — are not driven by the same views reflected on “certain left-leaning Twitter feeds” or “the activist wing of our party.”

“Even as we push the envelope and we are bold in our vision we also have to be rooted in reality,” Mr. Obama said. “The average American doesn’t think we have to completely tear down the system and remake it.”

Tear it down I say. We don't need to reinvent the wheel for implementing universal health care because other countries have already done that and we can follow what they did. Boy it must be nice to be able to spout platitudes from his high perch that he only attained by selling us out.

—

"Don't go back to sleep ... Don't go back to sleep ... Don't go back to sleep."
~Rumi

"If you want revolution, be it."
~Caitlin Johnstone

Submitted by Lily O Lady on Sat, 11/16/2019 - 7:55am

He knows because

@Centaurea

he’s telling us what we think! /s

—

"The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power. Now do you begin to understand me?" ~Orwell, "1984"

Submitted by Centaurea on Sat, 11/16/2019 - 8:47am

That's exactly

@Lily O Lady

what narcissists do, in fact.

—

"Don't go back to sleep ... Don't go back to sleep ... Don't go back to sleep."
~Rumi

"If you want revolution, be it."
~Caitlin Johnstone

Submitted by Snode on Sat, 11/16/2019 - 10:09am

Perfect

@snoopydawg A clear profile of a successful modern democrat politician, and by extension, his party.

#4.2

Barack Obama 2008 (net worth $1m-$5m): Hope & Change

Barack Obama 2019 (net worth $40m): Activism is actually bad https://t.co/5C1npuA9y7

— Walker Bragman (@WalkerBragman) November 16, 2019

That he is telling us that we can't have what we want and should just go with what we are given after he is out making millions and spending them on creature comforts while so many people are struggling is just....well you all can fill in the blank here. What I want to say isn't for polite society. He and Michelle just bought a $15 million home in the Hamptons. The Clintons only bought one for $2 million after they got done screwing us, but then Obama had his grifting setup before he left office.

Here is the article.

Obama Says Average American Doesn’t Want to ‘Tear Down System’

Former President Barack Obama, in an address to liberal donors, warned candidates not to go too far left and sought to calm those who were concerned about the state of the Democratic primary.

Former President Barack Obama offered an unusual warning to the Democratic primary field on Friday evening, cautioning the candidates not to move too far to the left in their policy proposals, even as he sought to reassure a party establishment worried about the electoral strength of their historically large primary field.

Speaking before a room of wealthy liberal donors, Mr. Obama urged Democrats to remember the long, combative slog of his primary campaign against Hillary Clinton in 2008, arguing that the 16 month battle ultimately made him a stronger general election candidate.

“For those who get stressed about robust primaries, I just have to remind you I had a very robust primary,” he told the group of several hundred donors and organizational leaders in Washington. “I’m confident that at the end of the process we will have a candidate that has been tested.”

Yet, he also raised concerns about some of the liberal ideas being promoted by some candidates, citing health care and immigration as issues where the proposals may have gone further than public opinion.

While Mr. Obama did not single out any specific primary candidate or policy proposal, he cautioned that the universe of voters that could support a Democratic candidate — Democrats, independents and moderate Republicans — are not driven by the same views reflected on “certain left-leaning Twitter feeds” or “the activist wing of our party.”

“Even as we push the envelope and we are bold in our vision we also have to be rooted in reality,” Mr. Obama said. “The average American doesn’t think we have to completely tear down the system and remake it.”

Tear it down I say. We don't need to reinvent the wheel for implementing universal health care because other countries have already done that and we can follow what they did. Boy it must be nice to be able to spout platitudes from his high perch that he only attained by selling us out.

Submitted by Cant Stop the M... on Sat, 11/16/2019 - 11:03am

There was a fellow at DK

@snoopydawg

who proved, mathematically, based on the numbers, that "liberals" and "progressives" didn't cause the 2010 loss. That we, in fact, had voted in higher numbers then than in 2006.

I lost count of the times I linked to his essay. Meteor Blades himself said, at the end, that he had given up trying to debunk the claim that it was lefties who lost us the House.

In retrospect, that was the beginning of the end for me.

Reality-based, my ass.

—

"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha

"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver

Submitted by snoopydawg on Sat, 11/16/2019 - 11:59am

I did not know that

@Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal

Thanks for the info. DO you remember then what it was that cost them the seats? Was it possibly the gerrymandering that has been going on uncontested by democrats for so long or something else?

BTW I just read this interesting fact on common dreams. Fossil fuel subsidies are $5.2 trillion per year. Now add in the other subsidies that other corporations get, what the banks get and all the money that the rich don't have to pay because of the rigged tax system and the pork filled military budget and it sure looks like we would have plenty of money to take care of our citizens. How we let 435 people decide what we should have when there are millions of us that should being telling them in no uncertain terms that this is unacceptable is beyond me. And yet here we all sit feeling that water increase to its boiling point.

Submitted by Cant Stop the M... on Sat, 11/16/2019 - 12:54pm

They lost independents and the young.

@snoopydawg

And rightfully so.

—

"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha

"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver

Submitted by Cant Stop the M... on Sat, 11/16/2019 - 12:55pm

We let them decide because we can't have a revolution

@snoopydawg

because we're living inside the enemy's arsenal.

—

"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha

"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver

Submitted by snoopydawg on Sat, 11/16/2019 - 1:02pm

The yellow vests in France have been in the streets for a year

@Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal

now and not much has changed there. Macron is still rolling out his austerity plans and people are still being arrested, jailed and maimed. But Chile has been open to working with the protestors so there's that. But yeah it's a global cabal pushing austerity everywhere and they have the power behind them.

Submitted by Cant Stop the M... on Sat, 11/16/2019 - 10:15pm

I actually meant those of us in the United States.

@snoopydawg

The U.S. is not so much a country anymore as it is an arsenal of the uber-rich with a thick candy coating of propaganda.

—

"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha

"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver

Submitted by Cant Stop the M... on Sat, 11/16/2019 - 12:56pm

Although, technically, they don't decide.

@snoopydawg

I don't think it's plausible to assume that politicians are calling the shots.

—

"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha

"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver

Submitted by on the cusp on Sat, 11/16/2019 - 1:14pm

Good point.

@Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal Our representatives do not even try to appear to be representing their voters. We do not even know who is calling the shots.

—

"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

Submitted by QMS on Fri, 11/15/2019 - 3:47pm

demon kratz and good old (boy) partei

do not care for the poor.

—

question everything

Submitted by ggersh on Fri, 11/15/2019 - 4:11pm

The D's and Pelosi must go!

@QMS @QMS demon kratz and good old (boy) partei

do not care for ~~the poor.~~ people

I hope you don't mind me fixing it for ya QMS

—

I never knew that the term "Never Again" only pertained to
those born Jewish

"Antisemite used to be someone who didn't like Jews
now it's someone who Jews don't like"

Heard from Margaret Kimberley

Submitted by QMS on Fri, 11/15/2019 - 4:24pm

Ya, ya, makes more sense

@ggersh

fewer words
more precise

—

question everything

Submitted by Lily O Lady on Fri, 11/15/2019 - 5:33pm

I can count on Dems to not be counted on for the 99%.

—

"The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power. Now do you begin to understand me?" ~Orwell, "1984"

Submitted by on the cusp on Fri, 11/15/2019 - 7:16pm

Depressing, isn't it?

We are fascist and the general public does not even know it.
They may become "woke" when they see what austerity actually feels like in their day to day lives.
Like, when Grandma is displaced from her HUD apartment. Like, when a baby dies from starvation. Like, when the breadwinner of the house gets injured at work and can no longer work. Like, when that teenager making straight A's dies for lack of health care.
Stay tuned...

—

"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

Submitted by snoopydawg on Fri, 11/15/2019 - 7:55pm

Stay tuned

@on the cusp

because all those things are coming down the pipe for us. This war will just hit the lower class first, but it's being structured to hit the middle class next. The asset stripping will continue until morale improves.

Submitted by Cant Stop the M... on Sat, 11/16/2019 - 11:04am

Kate had better get her kidney soon.

@on the cusp

—

"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha

"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver

Submitted by on the cusp on Sat, 11/16/2019 - 11:41am

Absolutely!

@Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal Our brilliant government is about to impose an unnecessary austerity program while countries the world over are in upheaval due to austerity policies. Why do we think we can do it without major civil unrest occurring? Do our congressmen not read world news?

—

"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

Submitted by moneysmith on Fri, 11/15/2019 - 8:25pm

Is there no end to their fuckery? Guess not....

So this is how they plan to neutralize Bernie. I was fully prepared for an assassination but this must be Plan B.

I agree with you 100% on this:

This ain't rocket science, Nancy. You know damn well that this will hurt millions of elderly, disabled, poor and especially children whose parents are already working 2 and 3 jobs just to make ends meet already. This bill is callously cruel and my contempt for everyone involved in passing it is off the charts.

Why is this not on the front page of every newspaper in the country? (Rhetorical question)

—

Hell is empty and all the devils are here. William Shakespeare

Submitted by snoopydawg on Fri, 11/15/2019 - 10:23pm

"Hell is empty and all the devils are here"

and serving in our government - snoopydawg. What they are doing is evil.

Submitted by moneysmith on Fri, 11/15/2019 - 9:27pm

Good point! I should change my sig line...

@snoopydawg this country is beyond redemption, isn't it? Sometimes living here feels unbearable.

—

Hell is empty and all the devils are here. William Shakespeare

Submitted by snoopydawg on Fri, 11/15/2019 - 10:26pm

Heh

@moneysmith

You can use mine that I fixed above.

Glad to see you figured out I was replying to you. Give the PWee a scritch. Charlie says hey..

Submitted by Centaurea on Fri, 11/15/2019 - 11:06pm

Austerity for us,

never for them.

They will always look out for their own interests, mainly having to do with money and power, while at the same time shaming the 99% and inciting us to fight amongst ourselves.

For a long time, it worked. They played off the old Protestant work ethic that forms a big part of the American psyche. The part that takes pride in working ourselves until we collapse, then flogging ourselves like an old mule until we get up and work some more. (The collective "we".)

People with beliefs like that are easy prey for sociopathic corporatist oligarchs.

The act seems to be wearing thin, though.

—

"Don't go back to sleep ... Don't go back to sleep ... Don't go back to sleep."
~Rumi

"If you want revolution, be it."
~Caitlin Johnstone

Submitted by tle on Sat, 11/16/2019 - 9:56am

Knowing which Democrats to keep.

It's easier to identify who to keep, vs who to get rid of, just by looking at a few votes. Votes on the NDAA tell us who supports the military empire, while votes on bills like this tell us who supports the economic war being waged on the American people. Primary the lot.

I didn't see anything relating to military spending in the article. How convenient. We MUST slash social spending, but spending on the military is sacrosanct.

Submitted by snoopydawg on Sat, 11/16/2019 - 12:09pm

Subsidies cost us more than the military

@tle

why we give subsidies and tax breaks to successful and prosperous companies is just batsh*t insane and yet they still get them. I think it's time for another tea party type party to tell them that they have screwed with us long enough. And to make matters worse Trump's EPA is once again gutting regulations on what amounts of poison can go in our waters. THIS is what the dumpocrats should be impeaching him for. He is literally putting people's health and lives on the line and the only person who has ever even mentioned it was Bernie, but even he is not shouting loud enough.

Submitted by ppnortney on Sat, 11/16/2019 - 2:22pm

What utter tripe

Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Democrats must commit to so-called "pay-go" rules, which require all new spending to be offset with budget cuts or tax increases.

There's zero mention of pay-go when they vote to give more caches of money to the defense industry or the wealthy. Their ideology is "austerity for thee but not for me" and they don't even bother to hide it anymore. It's not just their insatiable greed - they're the financial equivalent of nymphomaniacs (or as my dad used to say, they'd steal the pennies from a dead man's eyes) - but there's unquestionably a vindictive, punitive quality to it how they go after what people need to survive.

—

The smaller the mind the greater the conceit. --Aesop

Submitted by lizzyh7 on Sat, 11/16/2019 - 4:15pm

It sure is vindictive, isn't it?

@ppnortney How DARE we question their wisdom. How DARE we question their motives. How DARE we think we even have a right to exist. Who do we think our government works for, us? How DARE we even think it.

—

Only a fool lets someone else tell him who his enemy is. Assata Shakur

Submitted by travelerxxx on Sat, 11/16/2019 - 4:35pm

Grab those bootstraps pilgrim, and STFU.

... The banks are being slushed with BILLIONS every day and although Warren said she wants to talk about that, but no one is talking about that. ...

There's an earthquake happening, but since the mainstream media is on total radio silence regarding it, no one feels a thing.

From Wall Street on Parade, Friday, Nov. 15, 2019 (my bold):

"The crisis in the repo loan market, where financial institutions make overnight loans to each other, began on September 17 when the interest rate spiked from the typical range of 2 percent to 10 percent. For the first time since the financial crisis, the Federal Reserve had to step in with lots of cash to ease the liquidity stresses. The Fed has continued to offer that cash every business day since that time and is now supplementing its overnight loans, which can run as high as $120 billion per day, with $35 billion in 14-day term loans twice a week. In total, the Fed is offering $670 billion each week in revolving loans to securities firms it will not name for a crisis it cannot define."

Well, I proffer that they can indeed define it, but that they dare not name it.

But you all wanted a pony, right? Sorry, can't do that; no money.

Submitted by snoopydawg on Sat, 11/16/2019 - 5:35pm

Yes I want a damn pony

@travelerxxx

Because that is our right. This is what we elect them to do, but they just changed the rules and work for those who pay them to sell us out. The only thing that pleases me is that Obama's legacy is going to be 'the person who could have made a difference, but didn't." That Trump followed his presidency is giving him cover for being Bush's third and fourth terms because Trump is such brute.