Ignore the Conservative Sideshow

The only deficit we should be worrying about is the gap between rich and poor.

By David Moberg

Once again, America’s political debate is out of focus. Politicians from both parties—but Republicans most relentlessly—continue to focus inordinately on reducing deficits, even at the price of making the economy unstable and the government dysfunctional. As the slight decline [RETURN TO ARTICLE]

  • Reader Comments

    “Of course, conservatives have long fought such policies by blaming growing inequality on the laziness of low-income workers.”  Then they stage TV shows like “Undercover Boss” where bigwigs come down to the dirty work level and, by trying ineffectually to do real work, gain a new appreciation of how hard and how well their employees work.

    This should cause the upper crust to go into a cognitive dissonance driven mass nervous breakdown, but they are evidently immune to any perception of their own hypocrisy.  The sad thing is that genuinely mistreated workers are able to see their plight and feel better after the undercover bosses and the workers reconcile in a weepy sentimentalized hug.  Fie!

    Posted by Contrarian on Feb 6, 2013 at 9:39 PM

    The GOP isn’t merely the party of stupid it’s the party of mind boggling hypocrisy.  The Bush administration marked eight years of the most grotesque fiscal irresponsibility in American history and people like Mitch McConnell and John Boehner helped make it happen.  Republicans only grow a fiscal conscience when there is a Democrat in the White House.

    Posted by ORAXX on Feb 8, 2013 at 5:27 PM

    Answer this: where does it say the government MUST guarantee equal outcomes? I have no college degree, but I am a small business owner. I worked full time and started my courier service in my off hours. I still work many 18 hour days a month to keep my clients happy and my business going. I pay my employees the market rate, any more and I would have fewer employees.

    Posted by Baseballguy2001 on Feb 9, 2013 at 1:56 PM

    RETURN TO DEMOCRACY
    SINCE 1980 WE BUILT A PLUTOCRACY
    Today, 10% control 73% of net wealth, 83% of financial wealth and get 43% of individual income.
    Top 400 have more wealth than 50%.
    SOLUTIONS
    Tax Code—Tax top 10% at 50% effective tax rate
    Top 20% get 60 % of exemptions—Bottom 20% get 3%
    Vote System change—-6 months –3 primary—3 general—-free equal tv time
    a debate a week=12=adequate to evaluate candidates.
    No personal or outside money contributions.
    Money out of government—Illegal for any Federal official to accept anything with a monetary value.

    Posted by clarenceswinney on Feb 12, 2013 at 3:58 PM

    I think Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman and his work should be directly cited; perhaps most relevant is the following: http://www.krugmanonline.com/b….

    Posted by Steve on Feb 17, 2013 at 3:50 PM

    ORAXX…And they did this right in front of our eyes. Lies, misgivings, misdirection. They used our patriotism as a tool against us. Brilliant, really. Contrived wars, innocent people dying ... Wall Street acting like wolves on a carcass. The evil that men do.

    Posted by Eugene Connolly on Feb 20, 2013 at 7:45 PM