Tag: Austerity

Socialism for the rich; austerity for the poor

  The Republican’s filibuster of the “tax extenders” bill will have severe economic consequences.

  Moody’s is predicting the loss of 200,000 jobs. Nomura Securities says it will knock 0.4% off of the GDP.

  A good 2 million unemployed families will have their last financial lifeline cut by the second week of July. The suffering of these families is about to increase many fold.

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 In midst of the outcry from the struggling working class, came this statement from Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.):

 “It is very clear that the Republicans in the Senate want this economy to fail. They see that things are beginning to turn around…. In cynical political terms, it doesn’t serve them in terms of their election interests if things are beginning to turn around.”

 Now I like conspiracy theories more than most, maybe even too much, but I also recognize that describing a political opponent in 2-dimensional terms with evil intent is usually an indication of something missing from your theory.

  What is missing here is the concept of class interests.

The Plan: It is Working

I read the news today oh boy…..

I am filled with a sense of sickness in the pit of my stomach, in my soul.

Greece to Sell State Assets to Raise 3 Billion Euros (Update1)

By Christos Ziotis and Natalie Weeks

June 2 (Bloomberg) — Greece plans to sell stakes in railway and water companies and the postal service to raise 3 billion euros ($3.7 billion) and help reduce a budget deficit that sparked the debt crisis across southern Europe.

“We decided to accelerate the privatizations process,” Greek Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou told reporters in Athens today. The government aims to raise 1 billion euros a year for the next three year from the sales.

Bloomberg – Greece

You should understand that this is “The Plan”

The plan was that by cutting the funding for government, government would have to cut back on what it does: regulating business, protecting regular people against powerful interests, building infrastructure, educating kids, taking care of the poor and elderly. With government (We, the People) out of the way businesses could be unleashed and really start to make money. And for those who could afford to pay, private companies would take over those other functions. That was called “privatization.”

Neo-Liberalism: The Plan

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