Crossposted from Hillbilly Report.
We all remember the debt-limit "crisis" in which selfish Republican idiots held our economy hostage to preserve tax cuts for themselves and the greediest and least patriotic among us they represent. What is worse than their greed and the fact that they care nothing of their country or anyone within now are the lies they will tell to try and spin their treachery and hide their lies from the American people. Yes, in the world of the modern Republican Party the only thing that trumps their greed are the lies they will tell to try and get you to allow you to steal even more money from the American dream.
Now Republican liars are telling idiotic Republican lies that they think you are stupid enough to believe. To hear these folks tell it eveyone but themselves caused the downgrade of our "creditworthiness":
Standard & Poor's decision to downgrade our creditworthiness is a clarion call to get America's fiscal house in order. The jobs and savings of too many Americans are at stake for Washington to continue ducking the toughest choices.
Our budget also included real reforms that preserve and strengthen our insolvent entitlement programs, which are the biggest drivers of our debt. These kinds of reforms are "key to long-term fiscal sustainability," according to S&P's report. Unfortunately, the Democrats running Washington rejected both our budget and a "cut, cap and balance" plan the House passed recently that would also save trillions.
Over the last few months, we tried to persuade President Obama to do something significant to address our debt crisis, on the scale achieved in the House Republican budget. Yet time and again, he and his allies demanded tax increases on families and small businesses, tax increases that would destroy jobs. With nervous markets, unemployment at more than 9% and millions of Americans asking, "Where are the jobs?," the worst thing Washington can do for our economy is raise taxes on the people we need to start hiring again.
http://www.usatoday.com/...
And in fact not only did these liars refuse to admit that their refusal to raise new revenues caused the downgrade but they are trying to use their treachery toward the American people to keep from paying their fair share yet again. Now they are also trying to end business regulation altogether and shove more "free trade" down our throats and of course they still hope to "drill baby drill":
Of course, out-of-control spending isn't the only Washington-imposed roadblock to job creation. That's why we must dedicate ourselves to pro-growth policies that help create middle-class jobs, make it easier for existing businesses to thrive and allow more start-up companies to flourish. This means easing the tax burden on small businesses and removing burdensome, redundant regulations that impede private sector investment and job creation. It's past time to harness our abundant supply of natural resources in America, develop new sources of energy and create jobs here at home. And we should increase competitiveness for American manufacturers by passing job-creating free trade agreements that would open new markets for American-made goods. All told, at least 10 House-passed jobs bills reflecting some of these reforms are awaiting action in the Democratic-led Senate.
In other words their solutions to their own greed that crashed the American economy in 2008 and downgraded our credit status in 2011 is more of the same policies that benefit the very few and cause pain for the rest of us. They hate their country so much and will war on the working class at all costs that no lie is too big to tell as long as the profit from it.
And liars are what they are. Shameless, selfish, unpatriotic liars. In truth the S&P blasted Republicans for using the debt ceiling as a bargaining chip for their lies and greed:
"We lowered our long-term rating on the U.S. because we believe that the prolonged controversy over raising the statutory debt ceiling and the related fiscal policy debate indicate that further near-term progress containing the growth in public spending, especially on entitlements, or on reaching an agreement on raising revenues is less likely than we previously assumed and will remain a contentious and fitful process. The statutory debt ceiling and the threat of default have become political bargaining chips in the debate over fiscal policy."
http://www.standardandpoors.com/...
And the fact that Republicans refused new revenues and Democrats refused to fight them on it figured prominently in the downgrade:
"Despite this year's wide-ranging debate, in our view, the differences between political parties have proven to be extraordinarily difficult to bridge, and, as we see it, the resulting agreement fell well short of the comprehensive fiscal consolidation program that some proponents had envisaged until quite recently. Republicans and Democrats have only been able to agree to relatively modest savings on discretionary spending while delegating to the Select Committee decisions on more comprehensive measures. It appears that for now, new revenues have dropped down on the menu of policy options. In addition, the plan envisions only minor policy changes on Medicare and little change in other entitlements, the containment of which we and most other independent observers regard as key to long-term fiscal sustainability."
In fact Republican insistence on their sacred cow the Bush Tax Cuts which benefit only a very few people and will run our debt to them moon and Democratic refusal to fight them over it were a major factor in the downgrade:
"Under our revised base case fiscal scenario--which we consider to be consistent with a 'AA+' long-term rating and a negative outlook--we now project that net general government debt would rise from an estimated 74% of GDP by the end of 2011 to 79% in 2015 and 85% by 2021. Even the projected 2015 ratio of sovereign indebtedness is high in relation to those of peer credits and, as noted, would continue to rise under the act's revised policy settings. Compared with previous projections, our revised base case scenario now assumes that the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts, due to expire by the end of 2012, remain in place. We have changed our assumption on this because the majority of Republicans in Congress continue to resist any measure that would raise revenues, a position we believe Congress reinforced by passing the act."
In other words America, the truth is easy to see. The only question that remains is will you let Republican liars make fools of you once again?? Will you allow Democratic cowards and kindred spirits to enable them in doing so??
Right now to get out of our financial mess it will require sacrifice from all Americans. As it stands the only Americans who have sacrificed are all of us, those who do real work for a living. The elites have shown that they care nothing for their country or any of us as long as they can continue to horde pennies on the dollar. They should be run out of town with torches and pitchforks and never be allowed to determine policy again.
Let us hope these Repubican liars do not pull the wool over our eyes once again. The very life of Democracy in America is at stake for our generations and the rest that will follow.