Robert Scheer: The Recovery Is Dead, Long Live the Recovery

[marmar]

from truthdig:




The Recovery Is Dead, Long Live the Recovery

Posted on Aug 3, 2011
By Robert Scheer


The die has been cast. Obama’s “nearly complete capitulation to the hostage-taking demands of Republican extremists,” as an editorial in the normally sedate New York Times described the deal to raise the debt ceiling, is a disaster in the making. It rules out a vigorous government response to the persistent economic stagnation in which joblessness, housing foreclosures and an ever-widening gap between the top 2 percent and the rest of Americans have become the norm.

But to use the word “capitulation” is too kind, since this president, as was Bill Clinton before him, is clearly one of those “New Democrats” who welcomes the opportunity to jettison the legacy of Franklin Delano Roosevelt as outmoded political baggage. Otherwise, why would Obama have reached for a “grand bargain” in which he even put Social Security and Medicare cuts on the table before the Republicans rolled him?

That same opportunistic reasoning got us into the Great Recession, thanks to President Clinton joining with congressional Republicans to destroy the sensible controls on Wall Street greed that FDR had put in place in order to prevent a repeat of the Depression. That was also the rationale of the Clinton alums that Obama appointed to clean up the mess they themselves had created. Instead of worrying about jobless workers and swindled homeowners, they bailed out the swindlers, following the example set by George W. Bush.

Those policies caused the 50 percent run-up of the national debt between 2007 and this week, when the debt ceiling had to be raised. While the trillions wasted made the bankers whole, it did nothing for the 50 million Americans losing their homes or the 20 percent of the workforce that can’t find the full-time employment for which they are qualified. The economy has zeroed out in the past six months, relative to population growth, and in June consumer spending had its biggest drop in two years. The fundamentals are rotten, as reflected in the steep descent of the stock market despite the raising of the debt ceiling. ..............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/the_recovery_is_dead_long_live_the_recovery_20110803/

[BridgeTheGap]

1. It does set the mind wondering what in the world Obama is up to. In the 2008 campaign, I saw a

video in which Republican legislators in Illinois were saying Obama is someone republicans can work with. That bothered me. Now I know why.

[luckyleftyme2]

2. AND WHO INVENTED BUY NOW PAY LATER

I HEAR THESE DRONES HARK THE GREATNESS OF PRESIDENT REAGAN WHEN HIS STUPIDITY BROUGHT US FROM THE RICHEST NATION IN THE WORLD TO THE BIGGEST DEBTOR NATION! WHY ISN'T THIS THE HEADLINES OF THE LIBERAL PRESS? THE REASON THE LIBERAL PRESS IS OWNED BY THE RICH CONSERVATIVE RIGHT! HOW MANY AMERICANS KNEW THAT MURDOCK OWNED THE WASHINGTON PAPER? HELL EVEN HALF THE RIGHTS PROPAGANDA STOOGES DIDN'T KNOW IT.
WHEN REAGAN LEFT OFFICE WHERE DID HE GO FOR A VACATION? WHAT ABOUT THE 3 MILLION HE RECEIVED FROM THAT COUNTRY? WHY ISN'T THAT NEWS?
WHO STARTED CNN-WHO OWNS IT NOW-WHO IS PUTTING MONEY INTO THE TEA PARTY! LETS GET THIS OUT TO THE PEOPLE!

[ProfessionalLeftist]

4. Who is putting money into the tea party?

The Koch Brothers. The Left has no equivalent to fund them and "liberal" think tanks.

[xchrom]

3. Recommend

[bhikkhu]

5. We still have positive job growth and a growing GDP

which means things are still struggling along, in spite of all bad press and difficult times. There is room for complaint, but there is also plenty of room to seriously screw things up, if you look at the repug plans much of the steady stream of "bad news" pushes people toward.

[blkmusclmachine]

6. Sabotage.

n/t