Obama Surrenders in the Face of Extortion Threats
Published in Le Figaro
(France) on August 1, 2011
by Jean-Sébastien Stehli (link to original)
It is a depressing moment for all of those who like the United States: the President has finally sided with those who threatened him with extortion. The Tea Party has proved that it has the upper hand in the GOP and Obama, as usual, gave his advisories the keys to the house instead of making Americans understand that the Republican demands were going to backfire.
The result of this extortion: the Republicans won on all counts. There will not be a cent of tax increases, and the poorest will have to foot the bill. One would almost be inclined to hope that the Republicans defeat Barack Obama in the next presidential election and that Americans begin to feel the effects on their daily lives of the absurd and toxic positions of the GOP, so that they understand the huge mistake- and the injustice- that was committed this Sunday, July 31.
First, let’s set the record straight. When the Tea Party and this sect’s followers claim that the country is collapsing from debt as a result of the federal government’s spending, here is what they are talking about:
• Transportation: 0.85% of the federal budget
• Education: 1.15%
• Environment: 1.7% of the total budget
“The deal is a disaster,” declared Paul Krugman, Nobel Prize winner in economics. Not only for Obama and his party, “it will damage an already depressed economy,” explained Krugman. But especially, “by demonstrating that raw extortion works and carries no political cost, it will take America a long way down the road to banana-republic status”.
The worst thing that can happen to a depressed economy is the reduction of government spending. Krugman claims that those who believe in Santa Claus, which means those who proclaim that the deal between the White House and the Tea Party’s hostages is going to reassure Wall Street and consumers, thereby putting the country back on track, are deluding themselves. “It doesn’t work like that,” warns the economist.
This deal, which threatens essential programs such as Medicaid (for the poor) and Medicare (for the elderly), is the nadir of Barack Obama’s presidency. If the incompetence of Karl Rove and George Bush aided in Barack Obama’s election, Obama just did a big favor for the conservatives in marking the beginning of the era of blackmail, which will allow them, each time they wish, to push Obama to abandon his party and voters in order to side with them.
The result of this extortion: the Republicans won on all counts. There will not be a cent of tax increases, and the poorest will have to foot the bill. One would almost be inclined to hope that the Republicans defeat Barack Obama in the next presidential election and that Americans begin to feel the effects on their daily lives of the absurd and toxic positions of the GOP, so that they understand the huge mistake- and the injustice- that was committed this Sunday, July 31.
First, let’s set the record straight. When the Tea Party and this sect’s followers claim that the country is collapsing from debt as a result of the federal government’s spending, here is what they are talking about:
• Transportation: 0.85% of the federal budget
• Education: 1.15%
• Environment: 1.7% of the total budget
“The deal is a disaster,” declared Paul Krugman, Nobel Prize winner in economics. Not only for Obama and his party, “it will damage an already depressed economy,” explained Krugman. But especially, “by demonstrating that raw extortion works and carries no political cost, it will take America a long way down the road to banana-republic status”.
The worst thing that can happen to a depressed economy is the reduction of government spending. Krugman claims that those who believe in Santa Claus, which means those who proclaim that the deal between the White House and the Tea Party’s hostages is going to reassure Wall Street and consumers, thereby putting the country back on track, are deluding themselves. “It doesn’t work like that,” warns the economist.
This deal, which threatens essential programs such as Medicaid (for the poor) and Medicare (for the elderly), is the nadir of Barack Obama’s presidency. If the incompetence of Karl Rove and George Bush aided in Barack Obama’s election, Obama just did a big favor for the conservatives in marking the beginning of the era of blackmail, which will allow them, each time they wish, to push Obama to abandon his party and voters in order to side with them.