What kind of paper is The Hill? This column slams the repukes pretty hard.
http://www.thehill.com/marshall/120303.aspxJosh Marshall
The Hill
Dec 3, 2003
<snip>
What we're seeing in Washington today has an uncomfortable resemblance to what, in mafia lingo, is called a bust-out.
It goes something like this.
Say you're a gambler and I'm a mobster. I've lent you lots of money. But now you can't cover your debt. I could pursue the matter through your kneecaps or toss you out of an office window, but instead I take a more constructive approach.
You own a shoe store. I take it over your operation, order everything under the sun and fence all the merchandise for as much money as I can get as quickly as I can. I run out every line of credit you have and generally squeeze the place of every dollar I can get out of it. And then when I can't squeeze anymore, I torch the place and collect on the insurance money.
Sure, it's not the most sustainable business model. But I have my money back, and what happens to you is your problem.
No analogy is perfect, of course.
I have no question that President Bush is trying to solidify Republican control over the federal government. And on the face of it, leaving messes that will need to be cleaned up in the not-too-distant future doesn't seem like the best way of accomplishing that end. But perhaps, as Nick Confessore recently suggested in The Washington Monthly, the idea is to hand out so many political goodies and entrench GOP interests so deeply on K Street that GOP dominance will be incontestable when the price for all this recklessness finally has to be paid.on edit: fix author's name
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
