Double dipping

I can’t get that worked up about the chances of a double-dip recession. It’s not that I think it can’t happen. I’m just not sure what the consequences will be or how bad it would be.

Let me explain.

We had a recession in which millions of people lost their jobs, their homes and their savings. At the same time Wall Street and many banks tanked, a few investment companies even went out of business or were swallowed by larger companies.

In the recovery – the time when the technical definition of a recession ending was met – Wall Street recovered, the investment companies recovered and the banks recovered, largely because of enormous bailouts paid for with tax dollars. In most cases, the employees responsible for the crisis did not suffer at all.

At the same time employment crept up marginally, but most of the jobs were low paying and the good jobs that had been lost are still not there. People haven’t gotten their houses back and their life savings are still gone.

So, to recap: the recession hurt the banks and millions of Americans, the recovery helped the banks and very few Americans.

If there is another dip into a new recession, Wall Street will be hurt. Will more average Americans be hurt? This recovery has helped people who already had money, if they lose money that their only sticking in their pockets and not spending anyway, why should I care?

So, I’m really not sure a double-dip recession will cause more pain for most people. We’re already hurting and no one in power seems to care, so why should I care about them?


Let me add that since the bill just passed that will supposedly help the economy actually costs jobs and reduces spending that could help people and the economy I really can’t believe anything that Washington says about what I should worry about, what needs to be done or even what color the sky is.

Taxes

Republicans are celebrating that there are no tax hikes in the debt deal. I can only take that to mean that they want increased consolidation of power in the hands of a minority wealthy elite and that the wealthy should not have to contribute fairly to the country that makes it possible for them to be wealthy in the first place.

Not raising taxes and cutting spending in this type of economy is the wrong thing to do. We may all survive this, but it could have been so much easier.

Disgusted

I don’t imagine that many people are surprised that this entire debt ceiling fiasco has been nothing more than political theater that benefits the rich and at best does nothing for 98% of the American people.

Of course at worst this accelerates the downward economic spiral and destroys peoples’ lives.

No, now that I think of it, that’s what it does by design. To be worse it would actually have to cut all discretionary spending immediately, triple taxes on the middle class and cut all taxes on the rich.

This has all been staging for everyone’s next campaign. Remember, the people who promise to take away your pain next election are the ones who caused it in the first place. They don’t care who they hurt as long as they have their power.*

We can take it away from them, you know. No matter how many millions they get in contributions it doesn’t count unless they get the votes.**

Mitch McConnell said it himself when he said that since elections didn’t get him what he wanted he’d find another way to do it. Well, we just saw it happen. The nation’s economy was just held hostage – basically, the American people were threatened with harm if a few politicians weren’t allowed to harm them. Kind of like saying if you don’t let me shoot this hostage I’ll shoot this hostage.

They just shot the hostage.

Expect this to happen again, and in ways that will further hurt the country.

This is broken democracy.



* A few thought they were doing the only thing they could do under the circumstances. I think most of them were wrong.

** Though we do need to make sure the elections aren’t stolen because the stage is already set for that.