Comes a report, or a precis of a draft of one,
from the Barry-built deficit commission, the Simpson-Bowles show, or, less respectfully,
the catfood commission.
I pounce, I read it with elan and alacrity and... ahem... what's the adage about firearms bared in a melodrama? This gun has gone off, but alas it's pure clown time. You can make out the pops only if you listen really, really hard.
If these guys condescended to us sovereign rubberstamps any more brazenly, we'd have a Loony Toon here on our hands, not a Powerpoint presentation. Check out its opening salvo:
We have a patriotic duty to come together on a plan that will make America better off tomorrow than it is today.Really, I don't have the heart to subject you to any more. On and on it goes, declaiming in alternating voices, from the yukking self-satisfaction of the Penguin...America cannot be great if we go broke.
... to the facetious mock-stentorian stylings of Senator Claghorn.
Does it add up to anything? No; but then if you were tired and it's late and you have miles and miles to go and this looms up ahead in blazing 50's neon:
Color TV
Swimming Pool
Breakfast in bed
As tacky as it is -- does it sound inviting to ya?
Comments (15)
That catfood is starting to look pretty good. A little garlic, some nice gnocchi, a few sun-dried tomatoes....
Posted by MJS | November 12, 2010 2:58 PM
Posted on November 12, 2010 14:58
'America cannot be great if we go broke.'
Who defines 'America' and 'we'. Is it understood that in this usage the terms are not synonyms? Or maybe they are, and it is only the instantiation of the 'we' that misleads.
God help the working man 'cause he don't seem able to help himself.
Posted by Nonny | November 12, 2010 3:07 PM
Posted on November 12, 2010 15:07
I like the idea of dumping the mortgage entitlement. Of course, that's a bait-and-switch item, mere window dressing for the real pitch, which is getting everybody to keep seeking waged work until they drop dead.
The fact that this stuff comes out of commissions rather than political party platforms speaks volumes about the nature of our system.
Posted by Michael Dawson | November 12, 2010 6:20 PM
Posted on November 12, 2010 18:20
Kabuki. That's all the whole thing is.
However, the elites think someone has to pay for their mismanagement of the economy and the government and I promise you they don't think it's themselves that should pay.
In a reasonable world I'd agree with MD and say the mortgage deduction should be done with and let's spread that tax break around to renters and those who don't own their own homes. Fine by me.
But this ain't no reasonable world.
Posted by Drunk Pundit | November 12, 2010 6:47 PM
Posted on November 12, 2010 18:47
OK... let's try this again, I think I misspelled Hillary on the last attempt.
"Who defines 'America' and 'we'"
The "we" in this case is the Imperial "we". It refers to the elites and them that runs the country. It does not refer to you or me.
Because I'm pretty sure that you and I don't give a shit if this country is great, right?
OK, let's see if this flies...
Posted by Drunk Pundit | November 12, 2010 6:52 PM
Posted on November 12, 2010 18:52
Getting rid of the mortgage interest deduction is the one bright spot in this dismal document, and it's the only thing you can be quite sure they won't implement.
Posted by MJS | November 13, 2010 12:00 AM
Posted on November 13, 2010 00:00
Collectibles make a come back.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101112/ap_on_en_ot/eu_britain_valuable_vase
Time for DC to cut taxes and time to rummage through the attic again.
Posted by Anonymous | November 13, 2010 10:27 AM
Posted on November 13, 2010 10:27
Renters' relief is definitely in the Top Ten No-Brainer Ideas That Somebody Would Propose If They Actually Gave A Fuck.
Must be why it never appears.
Posted by ms_xeno | November 13, 2010 11:35 AM
Posted on November 13, 2010 11:35
What you people don't understand is that things could get worse. At least with Obama you'll be eating nice wet catfood from a can. If Palin wins in 2012, that means cheap dry catfood in a sack.
Is that what you want? Cheap dry catfood in a sack?
I say, let's continue to criticize Obama "from the left." Paul Krugman says that if Obama doesn't come out immediately not only for the continuation of wet catfood but for Science Diet, he's still going to support the Democrats in 2012, but he's going to write a lot of very angry columns for the New York Times. Let's follow his example. A great country deserves nothing less than Science Diet.
Posted by Trail of Tears | November 13, 2010 12:15 PM
Posted on November 13, 2010 12:15
i've been reading some ass forward
pwog -liberal chatter over the catfoodiad
it dawns on me
they want to raise taxes
on the wealthy
more then they want to stimulate
jobs for the jobless
hating the plutonians blinds em
and once blind
they go about doing the plutonians dirty work
i especially like the notion
so thrilling to certain types
that clinton's budget miracle
in term II
is a paradigm for now
Posted by op | November 13, 2010 12:45 PM
Posted on November 13, 2010 12:45
rightin' the wrongs's the way t'look strong as the ones who belongs in th'white house must be
so swing the right axes & raise the right taxes where all the right hacks's likely to see
eee eee eee
cuz all you can give the protacted displaced
is a relative cut in the smack on their face
and though they implore you
they do not emPLOY you
well maybe they do in just this one case
so you owe it to tell them to tighten their waste
to help you along your career!
Posted by hapa | November 13, 2010 2:30 PM
Posted on November 13, 2010 14:30
Posted by MJS | November 13, 2010 8:55 PM
Posted on November 13, 2010 20:55
http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/14/death-panels-and-sales-taxes/
krugman sentinel report:
at the liberal gliberal merit class
smugbot game again
cracking
on air
what amerika needs now
are death panels and a national sales tax
great stuff
completely vindicates t-bongers and baggers
reactive notions of "good gubmint"
"(a) health care costs will have to be controlled, which will surely require having Medicare and Medicaid decide what they’re willing to pay for — not really death panels, of course, but ... at some point, how much we’re willing to spend for extreme care"
not really death panels ???
"(b) we’ll need more revenue — several percent of GDP — which might most plausibly come from a value-added tax"
just what we need ...more taxes ...
paid flatly ...across the board ...
out of ...regular consumption ???
this pretty nicely captures
the idiocy of the budget fetish
as national project
if you plumb even a spotless liberal
like PK
deep enough and often enough
and eventually
you 'll hear the thud loud and clear
Posted by op | November 15, 2010 8:19 AM
Posted on November 15, 2010 08:19
Krugman maintains his street cred. K street.
Posted by lunch | November 15, 2010 12:43 PM
Posted on November 15, 2010 12:43
Dry catfood will keep the tartar off my teeth, so I won't need a dental plan anymore. Cleanings will become optional. And drunken barfights should loosen the teeth that will need to be extracted over time. That's what I call an Amurrikin dental plan.
Posted by Michael Hureaux | November 15, 2010 1:51 PM
Posted on November 15, 2010 13:51