[Peace-discuss] Phony "progressive" group spreads lies
C. G. Estabrook
galliher at illinois.edu
Mon Mar 2 09:59:51 CST 2009
The Democratic party cheerleading corps, MoveOn.org, seems to be named for the
police cover-up line, "Move along! Nothing happening here!" They quote Nobel
economist Paul Krugman as praising what MoveOn (not Krugman) calls Obama's
"ambitious, amazing, and unapologetically progressive" budget as setting America
on a "fundamentally new course."
MoveOn omitted Krugman's proviso, "If he can get anything like the plan he
announced on Thursday through Congress." And they ignored Krugman's point that
the "policy trends over the past 30 years" -- the neoliberal policies of Reagan,
Clinton, and the Bushes -- were so bad.
Krugman actually thinks that, given the present economic crisis, "policy-makers
just keep falling short — and the odds that this slump really will turn into
Great Depression II keep rising." And so we have "the spectacle of James Baker
[Reagan-Bush consigliere] attacking the Obama administration from the left" --
while MoveOn provides the right-wing boosterism. --CGE
=========
Paul Krugman
March 2, 2009, 8:43 am
Failing the test
It’s a depressing spectacle: on both sides of the Atlantic, policy-makers just
keep falling short — and the odds that this slump really will turn into Great
Depression II keep rising.
In Europe, leaders rejected pleas for a comprehensive rescue plan for troubled
East European economies, promising instead to provide “case-by-case” support.
That means a slow dribble of funds, with no chance of reversing the downward spiral.
Oh, and Jean-Claude Trichet says that there is no deflation threat in Europe.
What’s the weather like on his planet?
On this side of the Atlantic, Tim Geithner seems committed to the view that
banks should stay private even if they’re bankrupt, because — well, just
because. James Kwak is driven to exasperation:
'To be blunt, it sounded like the “private is better” mantra we heard from
the Bush administration, and (to a slightly less extent) the Clinton
administration before them. Sure, most people agree you don’t want all
individual lending decisions being made by bureaucrats in Washington, but that’s
just a straw man. There are valid reasons to debate whether nationalization is
the best solution; in particular, if you were to take over Citigroup, even for a
short period of time, would that immediately weaken Bank of America so much that
you would be forced to take it over the next day? And what about JPMorgan Chase?
But that’s not what Geithner said. He said “private is better.”'
And so is the extremely moderate Tim Duy, over the insistence of policymakers
that the “true value” of assets is higher than anything the market is actually
willing to pay:
'Policymakers are assuming that restoring proper functioning in credit
markets - and confidence in general - is equivalent to a housing price rebound.
They seem incapable of envisioning a world in which this is not the case. This
tunnel vision prevents policymakers of trying to devise policy which assumes
that the many of the assets in the banking system are simply “bad.” For Bernanke
and Geithner, there are no bad assets. Only misunderstood assets.'
And we have the spectacle of James Baker — James Baker! — attacking the Obama
administration from the left, calling for temporary nationalization of zombie
banks as part of the recapitalization process.
The sickening feeling of drift — the sense that policymakers are refusing to
face hard facts, and are dithering while the world economy burns — just keeps
getting stronger.
http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/03/02/failing-the-test/
C. G. Estabrook wrote:
> That's funny -- not a word about the money to be spent increasing the
> number of people killed in SW Asia. Must be a simple oversight...
>
>
> John W. wrote:
>> Can you BELIEVE the audacity of these people???
>>
>>
>>
>> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
>> From: *Daniel Mintz, MoveOn.org Political Action*
>> <moveon-help at list.moveon.org <mailto:moveon-help at list.moveon.org>>
>> Date: Sun, Mar 1, 2009 at 3:31 PM
>> Subject: "A threat to the status quo"
>> To: John Wason <jbw292002 at gmail.com <mailto:jbw292002 at gmail.com>>
>>
>>
>> Dear MoveOn member,
>>
>> Want to see what change looks like? Real change?
>>
>> Well, here it is. Last week, President Obama unveiled his budget—his
>> blueprint for America—and it's ambitious, amazing, and
>> unapologetically progressive. As Paul Krugman said, it will set
>> America on a "fundamentally new course."^1
>>
>> President Obama called his budget "a threat to the status quo," and
>> trust me, the status quo noticed. Oil companies, big banks and
>> insurance companies are already mobilizing to stop it.^2
>>
>> Unfortunately, most folks don't realize how far-reaching and
>> progressive the plan is—that's where we all come in.
>>
>> Here are 10 really incredible things about Obama's plan. Check them
>> out and then send them on to your friends and family so that millions
>> of people will have the information they need to fight to make this
>> vision a reality.
>>
>>
>> 10 things you should know about Obama's plan (but probably don't)
>>
>> The plan:*
>> *
>>
>> 1. *Makes a $634 billion down payment on fixing health care *that
>> will go a long way toward paying for a more efficient, more
>> affordable health care system that covers every single American.^3
>> 2. *Reduces taxes for 95% of working Americans. *And if your
>> family
>> makes less than $250,000, your taxes won't go up one dime.^4
>> 3. *Invests more than $100 billion in clean energy technology,
>> *creating millions of green jobs that can never be outsourced.^5
>> 4. *Brings our troops home from Iraq on a firm timetable*,
>> finally
>> bringing the war to a close—and freeing up almost ten billion
>> dollars a month for domestic priorities.^6
>> 5. *Reverses growing income inequality. *The plan lets the
>> Bush tax
>> cuts for the wealthiest Americans expire and focuses on
>> strengthening the middle class.^7
>> 6. *Closes multi-billion-dollar tax loopholes for big oil
>> companies. *^8
>> 7. *Increases grants to help families pay for college*—the
>> largest
>> increase ever.^9
>>
>> 8. *Halves the deficit by 2013. *President Obama inherited a legacy
>> of huge deficits and an economy in shambles, but his plan brings
>> the deficit under control as soon as the economy begins to
>> recover.^10
>> 9. *Dramatically increases funding for the SEC and the
>> CFTC*—the
>> agencies that police Wall Street.^11
>> 10. *Tells it straight. *For years, budgets have used accounting
>> tricks to hide the real costs of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan,
>> the Bush tax cuts, and too many other programs. Obama's budget
>> gets rid of the smokescreens and lays out what America's
>> priorities are, what they cost, and how we're going to pay for
>> them.^12
>>
>> This is the change we voted for. President Obama has done his part,
>> now we need to do ours.
>>
>> Can you pass this on to your personal network and then click here to
>> let us know how many people you told, so we can track our impact
>> together:
>>
>> http://pol.moveon.org/budget10/?id=15687-7617889-L0NFE9x&t=1
>> <http://pol.moveon.org/budget10/?id=15687-7617889-L0NFE9x&t=1>
>>
>> Thanks for all you do.
>>
>> –Daniel, Tanya, Peter, Justin and the rest of the team
>>
>> P.S. Turns out there are way more than 10 amazing things in Obama's
>> budget and we couldn't resist sharing just a few more.
>>
>> 1. *Stops unnecessary government subsidies to big banks, health
>> insurance companies and big agribusinesses.*^13,14,15
>>
>> 2. *Expands access to early childhood education and improves schools*
>> by investing in programs that make sure every child has a
>> qualified, strong teacher.^16
>> 3. *Negotiates for better prescription drug prices* using
>> Medicaid's
>> tremendous bargaining power.^17
>> 4. *Expands access to family planning for low-income women.*^18
>> 5. *Caps the pollution that causes global warming,* and makes
>> polluters pay to support clean energy innovation.^19
>>
>> *Sources:*
>>
>> 1. "Climate of Change," The New York Times, February 27, 2009
>> http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/27/opinion/27krugman.html?em
>>
>> 2. "Obama Calls His Budget Sweeping, Needed Change," The New York
>> Times, February 28, 2009
>> http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51201&id=15687-7617889-L0NFE9x&t=2
>> <http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51201&id=15687-7617889-L0NFE9x&t=2>
>>
>> 3. "Obama Offers Broad Plan to Revamp Health Care," The New York
>> Times, February 26, 2009
>> http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51202&id=15687-7617889-L0NFE9x&t=3
>> <http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51202&id=15687-7617889-L0NFE9x&t=3>
>>
>> 4. "Obama Expects Fight Over $3.55 Trillion Budget Plan," Bloomberg
>> News, February 28, 2009
>> http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51203&id=15687-7617889-L0NFE9x&t=4
>> <http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51203&id=15687-7617889-L0NFE9x&t=4>
>>
>> 5. "Energy Budget Is Sunlight After Eight Years of Darkness," Center
>> for American Progress, February 26, 2009
>> http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51204&id=15687-7617889-L0NFE9x&t=5
>> <http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51204&id=15687-7617889-L0NFE9x&t=5>
>>
>> 6. "The Economic Cost of War in Iraq and Afghanistan," The New York
>> Times, March 1, 2009
>> http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/01/weekinreview/01glanz.html
>>
>> 7. "Tax Cuts," The New York Times, February 26, 2009
>> http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/27/washington/27web-tax.html
>>
>> 8. "Energy Budget Is Sunlight After Eight Years of Darkness," Center
>> for American Progress, February 26, 2009
>> http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51204&id=15687-7617889-L0NFE9x&t=6
>> <http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51204&id=15687-7617889-L0NFE9x&t=6>
>>
>> 9. "Student Loans," The New York Times, February 26, 2009
>> http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/27/washington/27web-edu.html
>>
>> 10. "Obama unveils budget blueprint," CNN, February 26, 2009
>> http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/02/26/budget/
>>
>> 11. "Obama budget would boost SEC, CFTC, FBI," Reuters, February 26, 2009
>> http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51205&id=15687-7617889-L0NFE9x&t=7
>> <http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51205&id=15687-7617889-L0NFE9x&t=7>
>>
>> 12. "Obama's budget," Los Angeles Times, February 27, 2009
>> http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51206&id=15687-7617889-L0NFE9x&t=8
>> <http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51206&id=15687-7617889-L0NFE9x&t=8>
>>
>> 13. "Student Loans," The New York Times, February 26, 2009
>> http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/27/washington/27web-edu.html
>>
>> 14. "Health Insurance Stocks Dive on Medicare Advantage Cuts," The
>> Wall Street Journal, February 26, 2009
>> http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51207&id=15687-7617889-L0NFE9x&t=9
>> <http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51207&id=15687-7617889-L0NFE9x&t=9>
>>
>> 15. "Agriculture," The New York Times, February 26, 2009
>> http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/27/washington/27web-agri.html
>>
>> 16. "Investing Wisely in Our Children," Center for American Progress,
>> February 26, 2009
>> http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51208&id=15687-7617889-L0NFE9x&t=10
>> <http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51208&id=15687-7617889-L0NFE9x&t=10>
>>
>> 17. "Obama Offers Broad Plan to Revamp Health Care," The New York
>> Times, February 26, 2009
>> http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51202&id=15687-7617889-L0NFE9x&t=11
>> <http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51202&id=15687-7617889-L0NFE9x&t=11>
>>
>> 18. "Obama Offers Broad Plan to Revamp Health Care," The New York
>> Times, February 26, 2009
>> http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51202&id=15687-7617889-L0NFE9x&t=12
>> <http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51202&id=15687-7617889-L0NFE9x&t=12>
>>
>> 19. "Setting 'Green' Goals," The New York Times, February 26, 2009
>> http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51209&id=15687-7617889-L0NFE9x&t=13
>> <http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51209&id=15687-7617889-L0NFE9x&t=13>
>>
>> Want to support our work? We're entirely funded by our 5 million
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>> <http://political.moveon.org/donate/email.html?id=15687-7617889-L0NFE9x&t=14>.
>>
>>
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