I think the saddest (and scariest thing) is that this is not really a crisis.

[theophilus]

I mean, the Republicans are turning it into a crisis, but this could have passed with a simple raising of the debt ceiling for the upteenth time. And to this non-crisis we see a total brainwash. Many of the public are going along with the idea of a debt-CRISIS. Even the President seems to be going along. Now, if "they" can talk the U.S. into wars and this sort of self-immolation....what is next?

Concentration camps? Who knows?

[leveymg]

1. Most wars are engineered, as well.

The debt ceiling "crisis" is Obama's Gulf of Tonkin, and the attack on SS/Medicare his Vietnam.

[BOG PERSON]

19. well, naturally they're engineered

going to war requires extensive planning, preparation, research, organization, etc.

[RKP5637]

2. That's a good question. I was seriously thinking that yesterday, just what is next. I was

also telling someone I would hate to see this country trying to handle a serious crisis because anymore it seems unable to govern, and I don't mean that as an Obama bash. I just mean collectively this country seems unable to govern, hence I wonder just what is next.

[Telly Savalas]

4. If this cast of characters had been running the show back in the 40s

we'd all have been speaking German by the 50s.

Just when I'd come to accept the level of bullshit coming out of Washington, they've managed to crank it up to 11. I'm comfortable with the thought that the cause of progress happens slowly...but I'm still having a really hard time wrapping my head around how unfathomably stupid this situation is.

[theophilus]

8. I'm afraid we're in the "one step forward two steps back" mode right now. n/t

[nadinbrzezinski]

6. Alas my friend this is precisely WHY this is a crisis.

It is actually a Constitutional crisis... and the government is frozen.

[theophilus]

9. Very good point. n/t

[RKP5637]

10. It's not only frozen, I now think it's sliding backward. I'm really wondering

where do we go from here. Just how much BS is the citizenry supposed to put up with 'till they've had enough, and what then. Even the most unobservant, lethargic, apathetic, spectator American must be wondering by now WTF.

[lifesbeautifulmagic]

3. seriously..

if the Dems cannot even get the clear message out that the revenue increase is a tax increase on the very rich (who have enjoyed the lowest rates in years), there doesn't seem to be a lot of hope.

[Raine]

5. Yup it's manufactured, just a little game playing by the politicians

all of them make me want to :puke:

[Yo_Mama]

7. Yes, it is a crisis

From the point of our credit rating, anyway.

We are going to lose that credit rating regardless of whether the debt limit is raised or not, and it is because we refuse to raise taxes and cut spending in order to cut our deficits down to manageable sizes.

Here's S&P's April doo-hickey on their projections:
http://www2.standardandpoors.com/spf/pdf/fixedincome/GlobalAging2011.pdf

Without radical changes, in about a decade the US will be right where Greece was a couple of years ago. So yes, the crisis is real.

[RKP5637]

12. Yep, I agree. I find it very difficult to think our credit rating will not be

lowered, and with the basket of eggs we have now, that will just escalate the downward spiral along IMO.

[CrispyQ]

11. Have you ever seen "Walmart: The High Cost of Low Price"?

It should be required viewing. One segment shows the Chinese factories. The workers live in overcrowded dorms & have very little discretionary time. That's the goal for this country. Destroy the economy to the point where people are happy to work for a couple of bucks an hour. Without healthcare.

Recently there have been more stories about corporations using prison labor at slave labor wages, or in some cases, no wages at all - the prisoner gets time off their sentence. They will pit us against each other in as many ways as they possibly can & steal everything left of value.

[RKP5637]

15. Here it is on You Tube, I'll watch it ... thanks!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hftb_DVuelo

[theophilus]

16. You are probably right. n/t

[FlyByNight]

13. Textbook definition of the Shock Doctrine

Sadly (predictably?), both wings of the Business Party are generally on the same page. We're going to get screwed; severity is just a matter of degree. The Wall St.-Washington Axis simply won't rest until the US is a neofeudal state (per Chris Hedges).

I frankly wonder why I should even bother voting anymore (should significant cuts to any of the Big 3 come to pass). Sure, the SCotUS is an enormous concern but if the Senate goes red in '12 (assuming Obama's reelection with high unemployment and probable cuts the Big 3), does anyone think the president will nominate anyone even vaguely left of center?

Despair isn't an option. But it looks to be an inevitable outcome.

[caty]

14. Could it be a

clever Democratic plan to show voters just how dangerous the Teabaggers really are?

Whatever the GOP and the Tea Party does that hurts Democratic voters, also hurts Republican voters. Many Republican voters are senior citizens who depend on Social Security and Medicare. Many are poor who would miss programs that help them. Many are veterans who depend on social programs. I bet a lot of people who were recently affected badly by floods and tornado's were pretty darn glad there was "big government" there to help them out.

This battle has been an education for a lot of Republican and independent voters. Watching programs they need, or might need someday, being whittled away while the Republicans and Teabaggers keep defending the breaks that the wealthy and big corporations get is like a slap in the face to them. Hopefully that slap will wake them up.

[theophilus]

17. I hope and pray so, but I am starting to doubt there is any strategy here. n/t

[Creideiki]

18. Shock Doctrine

And we're being played.