Is this what we've come to? [View all]

[MadHound]

Tomorrow Meatcleaver Austerity is set to hit the nation, rolling back whatever minimal gains this economy has made and sending back into the tailspin of another recession. Politicians aren't working frantically to avert this catastrophe, but are instead engaged in a mutual game of CYA, going out and trying to convince the public that their side isn't to blame for this onrushing disaster.

Meanwhile, the only other alternative to Meatcleaver Austerity is Austerity Lite, a proposal rolled out by the administration that includes closing some tax loopholes, but it would still cut spending which most likely will include cuts to SS, Medicare and/or Medicaid.

Is this it? Is this all our so called leaders can come up with, the choice between Meatcleaver Austerity and Austerity Lite? If so, then it shines a bright light onto how out of touch, out of ideas, and out of their minds our leaders in Washington have become.

Any first year Econ major can tell you that applying austerity measures in the middle of an economic downturn, or even when the economy is pulling out of such a downturn, is a certain recipe for disaster. We tried that back during the Great Depression, cutting back government spending in 1937, and that plunged the nation back into a recession didn't pull up for thirteen months, and really didn't end until we started gearing up for WWII. If that illustration isn't current enough, one has but to look across the Atlantic and see what austerity has done to Greece, Spain, and a large chunk of the EU.

But despite all of those examples, despite the wealth of experience we have, not a single person in power is speaking out against any of these austerity measures. We still need a major, WPA type stimulus, one that will employ millions, improve our infrastructure and save our economy. Yet hardly anybody, from the President to the Progressive Caucus, much less any Republican, is speaking up. You might here a few lone voices calling for these sort of measures, economists like Reich and Krugman, but they are outside the corridors of power looking in. Sanders has repeatedly called for such a stimulus, but he's not even a Democrat, and thus has little power.

Instead, it seems as though everybody from the President to Congress has bought into the notion that we've got to focus on cutting the debt, NOW, and their only disagreement is where to cut, and how deep to cut, whether to kill the economy with a meatcleaver or have it die the slow death of a thousand cuts.

I know, I know, I hear all those sensible woodchucks out there screaming that another stimulus is impossible, that we've got to achieve what is doable, not aim for pie in the sky. Well, first of all, we're not going to know if something is doable until we actually try to do it. Secondly, put your faith in the American people. Almost all of us are suffering out here in some form or fashion, unemployed, underemployed, taking major hits to our income, lost our retirement, lost our house, the list of problems is long and the misery index is high. The majority of Americans want real change, the last couple of elections have proven that. Instead of calling for Austerity Lite, the President and every single Democratic Congressman needs to be out on the stump, educating the American people about real solutions to these painful problems and getting them to rally behind a stimulus. If the sleeping giant of the American populace is roused, there isn't much that can stand against it.

Instead of offering the American people the choice between less shit and more shit, offer them a real option, a way out of the shit. Educate them that yes, we'll be going deeper in a debt as a nation, but in the end, the only way to eliminate that dept is by creating a robust, vibrant economy. Tell them that we can't cut our way to prosperity, but we have to grow our way to prosperity. All that this blame game and finger pointing on the eve of disaster does is turn people off. Offer the people a real change, real hope, and they will take it. Hell, they want it, they're begging for it. Isn't it time to give the people what they want?