Bill Bennett, Rex Lyle and Karen Osborne; they write about three different things, but, they all have one thing in common, and it is displayed very graphically in the Spokesman-Review's editorial pages called the Roundtable. Published on the 19th of February 2008, let's begin with Bill Bennett who opines that the S-R is ultra liberal. I guess, since the Spokesman-Review publishes opinions that cross the political spectrum. The voice of religious interests such as Cal Thomas. The voice of let us discuss less the chosen field of economics and justify the unreason in at least one side of American politics today such as Thomas Sowell. Let us engage in shrill prattle over fluff and nonsense such as Kathleen Parker. And instead focus on Jim Shea, who wrote a satire about yes, guess what, the hate mongers in our midst. Ann Coulter, who argues that "liberals" are treasonous. Perhaps she'd like to start with the Founding Fathers? How about the Feminist movement without whom she'd have no voice. A woman with such disdain for Senator McCain that she would even campaign or vote for Senator Clinton. With whom Ms. Parker took umbrage. Or Rush Limbaugh, who coined the term "Feminazis," gleefully used by his dittoheads in the same Roundtable where one finds readers' letters. Rush Limbaugh who also attacked McCain for not being his version of "conservative." Or should we instead say, not nearly as radical lefty as Limbaugh himself is. All this is factual, Jim Shea made fun of it, and Bennett developed heartburn. Says a lot about what the fellow isn't paying attention to.
Going on to Rex Lyle who claims that "Oil taxes dwarf profits." Never mind that a GOP controlled Congress delivered hefty tax breaks to oil companies. That was two years ago. Those tax breaks have not been rescinded to date. And that may only happen should we get a Democrat for president. What we have seen is oil company executives rake in enormous paychecks and retirement benefits. Seems to me that when the money goes up, it doesn't go out: to build refineries, to refurbish refineries. To replace storm damaged oil drilling rigs. To invest in new sources of energy. Presumably those tax breaks in the last couple of years was supposed to be an incentive to do those things. Guess not. In the news, yet another refinery explodes in Texas. Why? We seem to be getting far too many of these accidents. Whether oil tanker spills or refineries that aren't up to snuff on safety and equipment being fully operational. I highly doubt that "taxes" are the reason that oil companies aren't policing their operations and thinking long term as to staying in business. They think short term, IE rolling in dough this business quarter.
Then Karen Osborne holds forth on why GW is so much better than Bill Clinton. Actually, Bill Clinton agreed with welfare reform that was handed to him by the GOP or he would not have signed it. And that took the issue of welfare as a strike against the Democrats off the table. The dot.com bust. Was that really the fault of Clinton or the facts of the marketplace? That if you create a "business" on computer, without a solid financial backing, then the dot.com will in reality go bust. Apparently, when a Democrat is in office, the free market becomes some kind of victim of Democratic policies. Never mind that businesses that form because of a free market, are also going to fail because of the jungle that the free market actually is. And the bigger corporations that can provide well-heeled lobbyists who bring suitcases of cash to members of Congress and can even bring their agendas to THIS president's door, tend to knock out of the free market ring far smaller businesses and yes, who also do a number on the American labor market. There has been a lot of jobs cutting since GW has entered office. At the same time, GW projected a rosy scenario of a GDP based solely on the profits of businesses that have gone global. Investors who could drive the stock market up and up, esp when they knew that they would pay fewer and fewer taxes. But, there had been a current of economic trouble in this country since the time that GW took office. Under his watch, the housing crunch in the form of people defaulting on mortgages arrives, late in his term in office. The credit crisis in general, driven in large percentage by the housing crisis. Not so long ago, GW was praising all those new home owners. Better than two years later, millions of those new home owners are now without a home. Credit card debt. GW wants this nation to spend, spend spend and keep this country afloat. According to opinion and news columns, credit card debt per person is a guarantee to drag the nation's economy down. --Source Outside Editorial originating in the Los Angeles Times and republished in the S-R. A cautionary tale about the Bush years, as though we were repeating the 1920s. Or even another "dot.com" event, that without the solid financial grounding, something in the free market is going to implode. GW has based his rosy scenarios on paper. The paper is not backed by anything solid in the way of financial backing. The stock market has demonstrated a volatility since the beginning of 2008 that should be frightening to people who put their retirements in the form of 401(k)s and Money Markets, wondering if they will have more than paper to live on by retirement. Under the circumstances, the facts themselves bash Bush. And Osborne doesn't care for the truth of it.
Susan Jacoby refers to it as a deliberate ignorance. We don't read anymore. We have no interest in the world. We don't want to know nothing. We prefer to be stupid. Well, let us put it bluntly that Jacoby is vindicated by the above writers. What they have in common is the opportunity to spout ignorance.
Going on to Rex Lyle who claims that "Oil taxes dwarf profits." Never mind that a GOP controlled Congress delivered hefty tax breaks to oil companies. That was two years ago. Those tax breaks have not been rescinded to date. And that may only happen should we get a Democrat for president. What we have seen is oil company executives rake in enormous paychecks and retirement benefits. Seems to me that when the money goes up, it doesn't go out: to build refineries, to refurbish refineries. To replace storm damaged oil drilling rigs. To invest in new sources of energy. Presumably those tax breaks in the last couple of years was supposed to be an incentive to do those things. Guess not. In the news, yet another refinery explodes in Texas. Why? We seem to be getting far too many of these accidents. Whether oil tanker spills or refineries that aren't up to snuff on safety and equipment being fully operational. I highly doubt that "taxes" are the reason that oil companies aren't policing their operations and thinking long term as to staying in business. They think short term, IE rolling in dough this business quarter.
Then Karen Osborne holds forth on why GW is so much better than Bill Clinton. Actually, Bill Clinton agreed with welfare reform that was handed to him by the GOP or he would not have signed it. And that took the issue of welfare as a strike against the Democrats off the table. The dot.com bust. Was that really the fault of Clinton or the facts of the marketplace? That if you create a "business" on computer, without a solid financial backing, then the dot.com will in reality go bust. Apparently, when a Democrat is in office, the free market becomes some kind of victim of Democratic policies. Never mind that businesses that form because of a free market, are also going to fail because of the jungle that the free market actually is. And the bigger corporations that can provide well-heeled lobbyists who bring suitcases of cash to members of Congress and can even bring their agendas to THIS president's door, tend to knock out of the free market ring far smaller businesses and yes, who also do a number on the American labor market. There has been a lot of jobs cutting since GW has entered office. At the same time, GW projected a rosy scenario of a GDP based solely on the profits of businesses that have gone global. Investors who could drive the stock market up and up, esp when they knew that they would pay fewer and fewer taxes. But, there had been a current of economic trouble in this country since the time that GW took office. Under his watch, the housing crunch in the form of people defaulting on mortgages arrives, late in his term in office. The credit crisis in general, driven in large percentage by the housing crisis. Not so long ago, GW was praising all those new home owners. Better than two years later, millions of those new home owners are now without a home. Credit card debt. GW wants this nation to spend, spend spend and keep this country afloat. According to opinion and news columns, credit card debt per person is a guarantee to drag the nation's economy down. --Source Outside Editorial originating in the Los Angeles Times and republished in the S-R. A cautionary tale about the Bush years, as though we were repeating the 1920s. Or even another "dot.com" event, that without the solid financial grounding, something in the free market is going to implode. GW has based his rosy scenarios on paper. The paper is not backed by anything solid in the way of financial backing. The stock market has demonstrated a volatility since the beginning of 2008 that should be frightening to people who put their retirements in the form of 401(k)s and Money Markets, wondering if they will have more than paper to live on by retirement. Under the circumstances, the facts themselves bash Bush. And Osborne doesn't care for the truth of it.
Susan Jacoby refers to it as a deliberate ignorance. We don't read anymore. We have no interest in the world. We don't want to know nothing. We prefer to be stupid. Well, let us put it bluntly that Jacoby is vindicated by the above writers. What they have in common is the opportunity to spout ignorance.
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