Sex and Grass
64Talking Points; politics for people who don't like to think.
It sounds like a documentary on the sixties, but really, this is the Republican talking points against the economic stimulus package that President Obama and the Democratic leaders in congress are pushing. They are pointing to a project to provide contraception and another one to re-sod the mall as frivolous spending in the stimulus bill. They claim the bill needs less spending and more tax cuts. Let me just debunk that these projects are not in the national economic interest, then I will address the tax cut issue.
Thinking points
The contraception portion basically saves average Americans money and gives them a sense of security. When I was in relationship condoms were always part of the budget but running out of them did not always mean not having sex. People, particularly in times of stress, will not give up a basic comfort like sex just because it is not economically sound. If you give them contraception you help prevent people from having children they may not be able to afford which is a long term benefit as it reduces the amount of public assistance that must be spent to help raise such a child. You also create the short term stimulus of creating excess disposable income. This aid to lower income families will not be squirreled away it will be spent every pay cycle by everyday Americans. That is money and comfort and that boosts morale which also can lead to spending. In short, publicly funded contraception is stimulus that is quicker then a tax cut.
Re-sodding the lawn of the national mall is going to happen. A few million people just trampled a mud hole around the reflecting pool. Its in the stimulus bill because it gets it done quickly and it creates jobs. Yes they are temporary jobs. No they are not skill building jobs. They are jobs that allow people to get off the unemployment and get a little real money in their pockets. Being able to earn a paycheck rather then collect a benefits makes people feel better about themselves. Comfort and morale are vital to increasing consumer spending, and no matter how temporary the benefit is, it is a step.
Backwards thinking?
Now we come to my critique of the bill. The Republicans are right in that the bill is unbalanced; they are wrong in the direction it needs to go. The bill has too much in tax relief and not enough in infrastructure spending. We need a New Deal for the 21st Century. We need to rebuild our roads and bridges, expand our information networks, and pioneer an expansion of green energy products, to drag our nation, and our economy, out of the petroleum era. It was the New Deal that solidified our hegemony and it is only by another such bold initiative that we will maintain it. Tax cuts leave our Government without the revenue to under take such an initiative and that will leave future generations with an America in both economic disrepair and in international sub-ordinance to what ever nation picks up the ball we stand ready to drop.
For eight years the nation has tried to solve its economic problems with tax cuts. Last November we as a nation, in both presidential and congressional elections, chose a new way. It won't be painless but pain is part of healing. Clinging to the comforts of tax cuts now will only put that pain on our children and perhaps their children.
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Comments
Let's go after the bastards and nail their nuts to the chairs until they come up with a deal.
I don't see what good it do (other then making me happier just here them scream during the nailing) as the problem is the Democrats didn't realize they didn't need to do a deal. They could just pass the bill as is. Particularly since stripping the contraception element (the more effectivre of the two contaversial elemets) did not change the Republican tenor except to embolden thrm to demand more concessions.
It's wierd; I don't like that the Democrats didn't at least let the Republican's bring their amendments to the floor for debate (then vote them down) because that is what the Republicans did to the Democrats for six years, but I also hate that the Democrats caved on a BS issue without a fight and got nothing for it.
the demos are weak bastards, and the republicans are some stubborn jack asses that for some reason, always get it mostly their way. But its only the begining, I think their stubborness will wear thin, and the demos will develop a spinal cord. Its only been a week, so let's give at least two until we go in with our hammer and nails. Let them scream, mamamia.
Horatio, I like your thinking and agree with your arguments about the short-term and long-term practicality of these points of the stimulus package. It's definitely time for a paradigm shift and some drastic measures.
Must say I was disappointed for a very brief second, expecting a discussion of the joys of stoned lovemaking. But I quickly got over that:-). Good hub! MM
I would agree with Goldentoad if the Dems hadn't held congress for the last TWO YEARS! I expected investigations, trials, some quasi-delusional part of me expected impeachments and trails for treason (to be followed by either public hanging or a detail of six with rifles) They have caved for two years, they were disorganized when Clinton took power and then immediately lost the congress in the next mid term. That is how we got NAFTA and Zero Tolerence Drug Enforcement out of the first hippie President. Now the Republicans are going to be able to go home, and to all the districts they lost, and accuse the Dems of using the economic crisis to push all their agendas (irony check: this is the same party that used 9/11 to push everything from Nixonian surveillence to faith based intiatives) instead of working for the nation and only policy wonks like me are going to realize that is only half true (and yes my lefty friends; IT IS HALF TRUE, maybe more) the other half being that those policies were not given a chance to succeed or fail on their own because of Republican obstructionism. Hope is getting to be a four letter word in my life.
Mighty Mom; Stoned love making doesn't need me to advertise for it.
but they are the swine americans, bottom of the barrel, little monkeys that hook on to one another, they gotta retire old ass harry reid or juice him with viagra, and then pelosi is gotta be held in a cage, let her become a wild animal, a cougar, she obviously gets sex on a regular basis and is way too relaxed....
I figured one thing out today, they can't git rid of Obama, otherwise this country is going to be lit on fire from LA to Boston, they have to act or all of us savages will storm upon them with baseball bats and nunchucks.
Hope is a good word, and put it with shit, I hope this shit gets betta.
Goldentoad; Huzzah to your Gonzo spirit! I was ready to be in the streets with Nunchucks in '05 I even sobered up for 10 months to make sure shit looked as bad as I thought it did. I was wrong it was 10 times more terrifying sober and had to make up for lost time as well as numb my well gnashed teeth.
If the congressional yay hoos don't start A- letting the republican's prove what idiots they are by making them debate their points on the floors of both houses before shutting them down and B- sticking to their guns and not giving concessions to the yay hoos Americans resoundingly said that 'eff that' to I have no sympathy for them. If their hooked on moronics costs Barack his second term though I will personally drag them into the street to be flogged.
I'm sorry you had to sober up, that's quite a terrible thing to have to do. I'm flying the coup, not enough time to exchange my thoughts but I will be back tomorrow, same time, same space, but hopefully in a different dimension. The Write In needs work, check out Cold War Baby, on hubpages, he's got plenty to say.... until then....
Also, you need an avatar, an image, people want to know whether they should throw a tomato or a salud your way, something fist's up, see Ralph Steadman on google, I'm sure there is something you can steal to start the cause.
This is fabulous! My first revolution -- I'm so excited. Can I help?
Already on the Avatar watch and yes Ralph rocks.
The revolution is always seeking aggressive expansion!
Very fitting, the revolution has a face!
Injecting a Little Anarchy in a State near you!
You must run rampant on hubpages, jump into the forums, read hubs and comment, destroy their vision, show them the apocalypse that is coming if they don't wake up, inject them with speedballs if you have to, some real high grade meth from some desert community that lacks in dentists, you must make them feel uncomfortable on their recliner, they must realize they are alive and that we are only dead for only five or six hours a night, more than that is lost time. I have already started the destruction but it need gasoline from one Horation Baccus.
I have a hard time agreeing with the logic that using tax money to provide rubbers for people that don't want kids is a quicker "subsidy" than not taking the money from them in the first place.
Because that is not the way tax refief works in the short term. You can't just alter the tax code and suddenly recalculate withholdings and bring all the employers and states inline and poof money reappears in paychecks. But you can start handing out the condoms that are already sitting in state clinics and save people 50... 60 dollars a month which they then spend on whatever else makes them happy. Instant spending equals instant growth
I knew they would give him a hard time but Americans still love him. He got Lilly Ledbetter bill passed. Yea!
First of all, I don't know what they're charging for rubbers these days, but if you're paying 50 or 60 a month, pulling out would be a good budget cutting plan.
So do you honestly believe that bureaucracy only exists within the IRS? It's not as simple as just handing something out, it never is; that's the nature of government. Somebody has to propose a law outlining who gets those rubbers. Then they need to pass a law to decide who's going to pass out those rubbers, for how long, and on which days.
If all these rubbers truely are already sitting in state clinics and they need a $800 billion stimulus bill just to get permission to hand them out, then I don't have a whole lot of faith that things are going to speed up significantly after that.
Item One: Its been about 5 years since I had to buy condoms regularly and when I did 36 a month (3 12 packs at abot $13 a pack) was standard I assumed inflation had driven up the price like so many things in the past 5 years. If people aren't having at least that much sex and their living through this nightmare I feel sorry for them. Iwas having that much sex in a great economy. Item One point Two; you really think the people who can't afford condoms should be using a hap hazard method like pulling out as birth control. You really want to pay for that many children born to families that can't afford them go right ahead, I'd rather pay for them to have rubbers. That's just me I like the government to save money.
Yes I am aware that bureacracy exist through out our government. The Condoms are currently sold in health clinics. I know because I used to go to the student health center at my university and get as many free condoms as I wanted; then I went to a public health clinic and had to pay a dollar for three condoms I would only use if they had been free. The bill if I'm not mistaken would have increased availibility which I am guessing that the 'abstinence only' administration reduced consideribly. Even if it took time to implement it would still be faster and more productive then any stimulus check or tax rebate as we saw in last years tax rebate which barely even nudged the economic needle.
I find your name very fitting. Without government intervention at this point the global economy will fail as will the majority of governments. Maybe you want to be fighting your neighbors for basic needs but those of us who care about our children have seen to it that people who don't believe in Government no longer have the reigns and hopefully we never let them slip again.
Feel free to come back and debate on my next blog.
condoms are only the smoke screens while they push the real goodies through the door.
You mean like the absurd amount of tax cuts which in the past eight years the combination of de-regulation and lost government revenue (from tax cuts)leading to budget short falls which leads to a failure to enforce the regulations we do have and thus a financial sector that does whatever the hay it wants at the expense of everyone. Oh and budget short falls from tax cuts also lead to less public works projects like road repair, building up our data networks, enhancing our the effiency of our national power grid, and lots of other job producing society building things. There are a lot of goodies in the bill that need to come out but most of them are tax cuts. With the exception of the AMT patch I would say gut the tax cuts portion and bulk up the infrastructure particularly the energy infrasturcture portion of the bill.
One thing that i have learned about DC, they are always quick with the knee-jerk, and yes they are all jerks anyway. One point on the New Deal', historians pretty much have decided that it was a bust. I am one that agrees. If anything money needs to be put back into creating manufacturing in the good ol usa. period
Thanks for the hub that just so is in line with mine, pretty much. sorry for getting here so late
Well agree I that manufacturing jobs are going to be the key to revitalizing the American middle class. The problem is industry wants that to come at American workers accepting third world or at the very least Asian compensation levels. Don't get me wrong Asia has great buisnees practices but they also have public health care. If we had public health care, and the unions expected more pay or benefits, in compensation for the reduced cost to the company, you might find me a friend of the private sector, for once. I don't see that happening because the Unions want to keep the employers and jobs here without leaving their membership in the lurch. If no other motivation for this arguement exists it is simply; no employers means no jobs means no dues means no union.
As for New Deal programs; they worked fine in the times when they were properly funded and administrated. The New Deal itself, due to periods when those that wanted it to fail led the executive branch and put useless hacks in charge of the programs and those times when those that wanted it to fail held the purse strings and forced the programs to operate on a shoe string, yes has been a bust. If those programs had been funded and lead properly we wouldn't be where we are. But some useless right wing a-hole thought he could deregulate systems and let industry insiders run the agencies that were intended to put a check on those industries and suddenly we are looking at another depression. Just as before it is going to take government to save the American economy from what private industry has done to it.
I respect your opinions C.C. feel free to bring the debate me anytime.
Yeah, I respect your opinons as weel. The Unions. Don't start me up on them. It's a shame what has become of them. Quite frankly I don't see a fix for some time. Our gret-grand kids will be paying out the nose. That is if something isn't done properly.
thanks for the stimulus. Sorry that I'm not joining this debate.
Oh well for the moment... we are in a fu*ked up world.
Good hub! Thanks!
Horatio Baccus says:
11 months ago
Apparently even as I posted this blog lawmakers chose strip the contraception element from the package. Proving as always the inherent flaw in our two parties the Republicans lack the good sense govern effectively and the Democrats lack the spine to do so.