Maybe this has been obvious to most people but it’s slipped by me until now. I thought I’d say it out loud in case others like me had missed it.
I keep hearing from the Republicans that we can’t just add services to government without paying for them. Then I see them want to carry on wars or extend the Bush tax cuts without paying for them. It hasn’t made sense to me. It seems so hypocritical.
But tonight I heard it differently and it made sense without my needing to think they are hypocritical.
ex•tor•tion –noun
[ik-stawr-shuhn]
an act or instance of extorting.
Law. the crime of obtaining money or some other thing of value by the abuse of one’s office or authority.
oppressive or illegal exaction, as of excessive price or interest: the extortions of usurers.
anything extorted.
Until now I had been hearing “budget items have to be paid for” as being a plea for balancing the budget. Paying for it meaning we, the people, ask for a new service paying for it by yielding an existing service.
Maybe it’s just that I’ve been watching too much Boardwalk Empire (a really outstanding series, by the way), but tonight I heard the Republicans as corrupt leaders with their hands out, insisting that we pay them personally. When they say budget items have to be paid for, they don’t mean balancing the budget, they mean graft. They’re saying “give us kickbacks or you don’t get what you want.” That’s what this tax breaks for the rich is. Graft. Extortion. Abuse of power.†
Now it makes sense why they don’t charge themselves and only others.
I’m sorry about having accused them of hypocrisy. It now seems consistent. They just think they own the place.
Fortunately, the Constitution says otherwise.
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Footnote
†Yeah, I’ve heard the joke they offer about how jobs won’t return unless this is continued, and how these cuts are for the sake of the nation, but I’m not buying. The tax cuts are already there and the jobs aren’t returned. And, further, profits are at record highs. Profits are the surplus after the business has done all it wants to do. If these companies thought they could or should invest in manpower, they’d be doing it before offering up profit. But they aren’t. Profits today are made by strict adherence to the maxim of “do more with less.” So, no, I don’t believe the cover story offered by the Republicans as flimsy veneer over their transparently greedy rush to further enrich the already-rich during this time of national need and calls for personal sacrifice. To quote Warren Buffett, “There’s no sacrifice among the rich.”
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RomanticPoetess
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Comments
rated with hugs
Does megalomania ever cease? we'll see when WW3 begins, or something very like it. If these warmongers have their say, they'll be the vultures picking the bones of this and any nation they care to choose before we're through.
Ugh. It's disgusting, really. Or shameful, take your pick.
Rated
Linda, I'm sure it's as old as could be, yeah, but I figured it was still worth calling out.
Michael, yeah, following the standard Orwellian play “If you don't want to change your behavior, try changing the definitions of the words.”
PW, find a friend who has HBO and invite yourself over. It's a series well worth seeing. It reminds me of the careful detailing in the excellent movie Ragtime.
Abby and Anna, whenever you each have more time and less noise, that's fine. Is there a concert going on I don't know about or is there something especially painful about this particular piece?
If the argument is that these tax cuts will produce jobs, where the h*ll are they now??
I cannot see cutting every social program on the books just to leave the rich paying the temporyStamp program and it keeps going up.
I have no idea how the argument is supposed to make sense to me.
Never heard of this TV show, per usual here.
As for the show, it's on HBO. Sorry for referencing premium content when I know not everyone gets it, but it is a good show and I'll hope you wrangle a way to see it one way or another at some point.
Likewise Maddow is cable content (MSNBC) but thankfully the web offers access to her. She and Keith Olbermann are great places to stop in at for a dose of “yes, someone gets it.” It's like John Stewart, but less flippant. She's still full of energy though.
I do not intend to be insulting, but if you TRULY only just now came to this realization, you have been truly naïve. However, limiting your extortion evaluation to only Republicans seems to be yet naïve, as well.
And I’m sorry to keep harping on this one point, but the problem is systemic and until that is addressed, nothing will change.