Our fearless leader, John-Boy The Wonder Guv Kay-suck, was on one the Sunday morning shows this week. Glad I missed it. I get nauseous just looking at the guy. But I did hear a clip of his spiel on the radio. Without citing a single fact or example, Kasich just went off on a lengthy rant about "economic uncertainty". It was a litany of party-line complaints about supposed lack of confidence and this awful uncertainty and how it's all Obama's fault and how Mitt and the R's will make everything rosy in about ten seconds.
John-Boy asserted that Obama has caused near-fatal uncertainty in these areas:
Economic growth, meaning the stock market has not sky-rocketed at the speed of Usain Bolt on steroids. The market is flat and we're right to be uncertain. After all, the pre-Obama Great Recession of '08 was caused by stupid GOP policies and Wall Street greed. Since then, the R's have done all they can to de-ball Dodd-Frank and other reforms. And as the recent JP Morgan Chase derivatives debacle shows, Wall Street has learned nothing. Hope we have.
Unemployment/Jobs. Even though our big job losses were a direct result of Dubya's Great Recession, even with budget-based state and local government layoffs, and even thought the GOP blocked Obama's Jobs Act, unemployment is coming down steadily, and GDP is growing steadily. And it sure as hell is not because of you, Gov. Kay-suck.
Over-Regulation. Just where exactly is this blizzard of job-killing regulations that the R's whine about constantly? The Affordable Care Act? The Lily Ledbetter Act? Higher vehicle MPG requirements? Expanded Pell Grant eligibility? C'mon! The R's would have us believe that any and all regulations are inherently evil and we'd be better off if business regulated itself. Bullshit! That sort of thinking made the Cuyahoga River catch fire. Just today, I heard some Republican railing against Obama's "Equal Pay" effort as "another example of the Democrats attack on free enterprise." (That's right, asshole -- the key to the free enterprise system is our ability to short-change females.)
Taxes. Might the temporary Bush tax cuts finally expire? Like they should have two years ago? Romney says he'd make them permanent and promises even further cuts, with the greatest benefits going to the wealthiest, top-bracket individuals. But what if that doggone Obama is reelected? No tax cuts? Oh, the uncertainty! The horrible, paralyzing uncertainty!
Debt/Deficit reduction. Big bullshit call on this one! Republicans have zero credibility on this issue. It was Dubya who turned a surplus into deficit and ran up the debt with unfunded wars and tax cuts. Yes, stimulus spending added some to it, but the alternative was far worse. In the past four years, the GOP has rejected every single opportunity to reduce the debt -- all they care about are tax cuts. All their blather about debt/deficit reduction is just tactical hot air. (In the Buster's Blog archives, see "Deficit Growth As Republican Strategy", 2/26/10, by Paul Krugman, and "Good News For The Unemployed", 12/8/10, by Buster.)
When he was at last able to get a word in edge-wise, Kasich's counterpart, Mass. Gov. Deval Patrick said, "Yes, I'd agree there's some lack of confidence. With all the Republican obstruction, people are uncertain if anything important can get done."
So stuff a sock in it, Gov. Kasich! You're just playing to the fat cats and regurgitating 30 year-old Reagan-omics crapola.
Truth: The concentrated wealth of a tiny minority of right-wing billionaires has purchased the allegiance of the Republican party. Our political polarization and D.C. gridlock are the direct result of the GOP's slobbering willingness to kiss the ass of Really Big Money.
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