Saturday, August 20

Likening Budget Woes to the Family Budget is BS, but...

I just hate these "family budget" analogies, but if we're going to use them:

The main breadwinner (American corporations) ran off to the Cayman Islands and took 90% of family budget along.  He's got all the family assets and he's never going to contribute to the household again, thanks to the Grover Norquist pledge, but he expects the family to pay for his bodyguards (the US military that protects US factories overseas whenever necessary) his passports, his retirement, and his legal system (companies like Exxon Mobil don't have to pay for their own legal system to protect their oil leases and copyrights).  

Then grandma gets sick and brother loses his job.  Breadwinner tells the family that Grandma can have a voucher for healthcare but brother can't have any more unemployment benefits because "we're broke."    And Fox News acccuses grandma and brother of class warfare.
It's easy to fall into the trap that SPENDING is wrong, because in our own minds we as individuals try not to spend unnecessary funds.  But Medicare and Social Security and unemployment benefits in the middle of the deepest recession since the 30's is NECESSARY spending.  Promising big oil that they will never have a change in the tax code (who elected Grover Norquist's LOBBYING agency king?)  and telling seniors and the unemployed that we're broke is a goddamn sin and a goddamn lie.  Period.  They are STEALING from us and calling it a gift.

4 comments:

  1. If we're going to liken our nation's budget to my family's, then I want them to spend the majority of their money on the same things I do: housing, food, health care and education. Our national defense would consist of dogs who bark but who wouldn't really bite anybody, but our enemies don't need to know that.

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  2. Good morning, Ms. Gal.

    Republican financial advice is like an anti-drug sermon from an alcoholic who's only sober because he's locked in a room without booze.

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  3. @Sue, that's one of the best responses to this claptrap I've seen yet!

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  4. the reason they are called entitlement benefits, is because you are entitled to them

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