Yet another opportunity to grab a few more poor people and throw them in jail for “stealing to eat”. During this period of punishing the people for electing a black president (again), I wonder how many more people will be imprisoned for being poor/black/brown/etc.

And how long will it take before we hear the call to privatize/cut/lose Social Security? We might even hear it from the president himself.

and don’t forget, to the extent there are new jobs they always pay less than the jobs they replace and with lower benefits too!

I speculate that the sequester cuts were designed in part to make SSMM cuts of the grand bargain much more gentle and acceptable to the people who will be affected by them the most.

Repeating my comment from an earlier post: Obama and the Republicans in Congress don’t care how many non-1% people are hurt if they can use it to further their plans to hurt even more non-1% people, and Democrats in Congress don’t seem to care much one way or another about anything.

This post is one of the best “rants” I’ve read to date that clearly and succinctly states the current state of affairs. This “plan” is going to be very successful for the 1%ers short term goals but will fail in the long term. I would think that before 2016 most 99%ers will realize they have been flim flammed by these contemptible, greedy, mentally unstable uber wealthy bastards. Maybe a third party will get some popular traction by then.

Austerity isn’t designed to boost jobs and growth. It’s designed to punish, intimidate, and subordinate. Stomp and grind.

You’re right. There hasn’t been a discussion about how the taxpayers are on the hook for the Fed’s QE program and how THAT might affect our deficit.

Quite frankly we need to be discussing BONDS and how they work since Simpson and Bowles are running around telling people the Social Security trust fund has IOUs in it rather than BONDS.

We also need to discuss how like the Social Security trust fund, the Fed has a stash of bonds. Perhaps it’s time we ask BANKERS to take a haircut for the good of the country instead of grandma(particularly since they are the ones who trashed the economy to begin with.)

I hope you are correct, but I am not at all sure.

No one is going to ask bankers for diddly.

2016 Green Party slogan “Vote for Change not Hope for Change”

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/04/business/economy/corporate-profits-soar-as-worker-income-limps.html?_r=0

And why not? It’s because our side has not made it clear that the Welfare train for the 1% has not been included in the slow down on spending.

How much of our debt does the Fed and bankers own? It may not be the 17% that we owe Social Security but I’m betting it’s pretty darn high.

cwaltz @12

wow, what a great statement: the idea of defaulting or cutting the value of the social security bonds (17% of u.s. debt ?) that were purchased with 12% of workers’ wages over 40 years creates an interesting way to question this whole manufactured “deficit theory” our politicians are “sound-byteing” on.

why is nothing said about the fed “loaning” banksters 0% funds to purchase 3% bonds and how much of the “national debt” consists of these (t-bills) bonds?

The above leads to the global “debt problem” of countries that has always lacked one vital piece of information: what “entities” are “owed” these “debts” and what were they “borrowed” for? i.e. Greece rec’d $80 billion debt from gold sacks to cook their books to enter EU. we’re issueing 3% debt via fed to banks for ???

That is one incredible You-tube. I’ve been sending the link to all my friends.

I think Obama showed his hand too soon on this one. In the long con you never show it, so that the mark won’t come after you with a loaded pistol. That being said, Obama is the best con man we’ve ever seen at that level. He is beyter than Bernie Madoff, and Madoff was good. If it hadn’t been for the crash in 2008 he would still be bilking rich widows and orphans. Or think of St Ronnie. Ronnie was a professional actor who knew how to read lines other people wrote for him. He probably didn’t even understand half of what he was saying. Obama does. I never thought I’d write this, but I think it is becoming clear tnat he is the worst.president.e er.

What happens to SS and Medicate turns on whether the AARP has been captured by the administration. If I were a betting man, I’d say the odds are they have.

Yes, yes, and yes. The haircuts should be made where the hair is longest.

OCCUPY WALL STREET! t
These grandees as Eskow calls them, think that they are virtuous because they have stolen everyone else’s money. Now they aim to plunder the poor since they feel that as the deserving rich, they must refuse to pay their fair share of income taxes and taxes from ALL of their incomes.

The 1% hate us and see us as ‘chumps’. I only wish the upper middle class professionals would stop whining that the people at the Saratoga Yacht Club don’t appreciate their contributions.

Whenever I talk to our overlords about debt forgiveness and student loans and inflated mortgages they glare at me as though I have stolen a loaf of bread or their silver ware./s

… X 2

You know the nice thing about starving poor people?

You can always make more poor people from the Middle Class!

Those of you that don’t think YOU have to worry about this need to catch a clue.

I’m a little late to the party on this, but what does wealth inequality have to do with austerity? The whole point is that this is all meaningless kabuki theater.

Austerity doesn’t mean anything, and it doesn’t do anything. Some cuts are good, some aren’t. Some spending is good, some isn’t. All the deals for cliffs and brinks and ceilings and whatnots over the past few years have always been agreed to behind the scenes; this is just showmanship.

You’ve made several posts on this but don’t seem interested in responding to the comments?

http://news.firedoglake.com/2013/02/22/austerity-program-set-to-begin-next-week/