Yes, you read that right. Republicans write some of the best ads for President Obama and for every Democrat in every down-ballot race. Have you noticed? They list everything good he and they and we have ever done as reasons to vote against us. In pandering to The Base, they are so tone-deaf that they cannot tell when they are pushing away Independents. Or maybe they don't care, because they hate us so much. Either way, I am happy to accept their help.
This time, I have a newsletter from Sen. Dan Coats (R-IN) to Hoosiers to dissect. (I'm a flaming East Coast/West Coast/International Liberal. I just married into a Hoosier Liberal family and came to live here.)
It's quite simple. Coats complains about the debt that Republicans ran up, and just pretends that it is our fault. Along the way he tells a surprising amount of truth. They do say that the best lies are built around a kernel of truth. Worst lies, I should say.
Let the dissection begin.
$16 Trillion in Debt No Occasion to Celebrate
Too true, and all down to the Gingrich Congress and the Bush Administration. (Well, the prior Bush and Reagan "Deficits don't matter" administrations, too.) Yes, Clinton went along with repealing Glass-Steagal, but repeal was a Republican idea ever since it was passed in the New Deal, as were the more recent
- Refusing to take Osama bin Laden seriously, and doing nothing to prevent 9/11, and then bragging that "Bush kept us safe."
- Tax cuts for the rich, to be followed by more tax cuts for the rich.
- An unfunded expansion of Medicare with a prohibition on negotiating lower costs.
- Failing to catch bin Laden and other Al Qaeda leaders in Afghanistan.
- Letting the Taliban get away to Pakistan to regroup and return.
- Invading and wrecking Iraq.
- Keeping the two wars off the books.
- Credit Default Swaps and the housing bubble.
- Drill, Baby, Drill as their entire energy policy.
- Setting out to destroy unions. Again.
- Setting out to make President Obama a one-term president, no matter the cost to the country.
$16 trillion in debt! Vote for Obama! Four More Years!
This week the United States national debt exceeded $16 trillion for the first time. That’s right, $16 trillion. Although a historic moment for our nation, this is no occasion to celebrate. Instead, this sobering milestone is an indictment of Washington’s failure to address the most pressing challenge facing our country.
Not an indictment of Washington. An indictment of all Republicans, including you, Coats.
You built this.
Vote for Obama! Four More Years!
Our federal government’s unsustainable debt is not just a fiscal crisis; it’s a national security crisis as well. Overwhelming red ink jeopardizes the security of our country and makes us more vulnerable to the foreign countries providing the borrowed money used to subsidize our excessive spending. We must stop the bleeding.
All true, up to the point where we shouldn't borrow money at historically low rates in order to invest in our economy and our people. You see what the Republicans are doing there?
Vote for Obama! Four More Years!
Hoosiers and Americans across the country must stand and call on all leaders in Washington to act now.
OK. Here you go.
Dan Coats, I'm calling on you to fix the debt. Become a Democrat. Not one of those Indiana Blue Dogs. A real Democrat. A Progressive, even. Your country needs you.
Satisfied?
Vote for Obama! Four More Years!
If we do nothing, we risk mortgaging our children’s future and leaving behind a country in worse shape than the one we inherited. If we do nothing, millions of Americans desperately wanting to work will remain without a job to go to in the morning. If we do nothing, seniors and future retirees may not be able to receive the benefits they were promised. This fiscal storm we face has been billowing for some time. We have seen it coming. Unfortunately, what we have not seen is action.
Exactly. Dan Coats is The Oncoming Storm, as are they all. Well, they certainly are the change they wish to see.
But could that be because the entire Republican program is Just Say No? No to fixing the economy; No to helping people in any way; No to staying in Iraq and Afghanistan, and No to getting out; No way, No how, Nuh-uh! And especially No to our first Black President. Because they said themselves that their only goal is to defeat Barack Obama, and thus the American people, at any price.
Shorter Republican Party: Whatever it is, I'm against it, especially if I was for it before.
I exaggerate, of course. It isn't just doing nothing. The real Republican platform calls for destroying Medicare, and taking away not only benefits that people were promised, but benefits they paid for themselves. Plus massive tax cuts for the rich and increased taxes on the middle, and cutting public employment even further.
Vote for Obama! Four More Years!
I will continue to fight for real, substantive reforms that will yank us back from the edge and put our country on sound fiscal footing.
There. That's where the real lying begins. No, Coats, you will continue to fight against real, substantive reforms that will yank us back from the edge and put our country on sound fiscal footing. But thanks for reminding us that there are such reforms, as proposed by Democrats, including the President.
Vote for Obama! Four More Years!
To restore America and prevent this great nation from becoming the next Greece, we need to control spending, reform entitlement programs and simplify the tax code. These steps will help grow the economy, reduce our debt and put Americans back to work.
Now we are beyond lying. So far beyond, that we have come back around to the truth. This is, if you can
read the code, naked greed, hatred, and delusion.
First, Greece. You make me laugh, Coats. The US is not broke, no matter how much poormouthing you hear from billionaires. Our Treasury bonds are carrying record low interest rates, and still money is pouring in from around the world. We should borrow, invest, and grow the economy as long as it is this cheap to do so. The Return on Investment is currently phenomenal.
Control spending: Trillions for wars and tax cuts, but not one penny for people or infrastructure. Bash the unions! Bash the poor, women, the young, the old, minorities, scientists, immigrants&ellip;everybody but angry rich White pseudo-Christian men, who are in serious decline. An attendee at the Republican Convention was heard to say that the Party needed more angry White men.
Reform entitlement programs: 1) Destroy anti-poverty programs. (Never mind that Food Stamps are an agriculture subsidy.) 2) Destroy programs to counter racism and the prior effects of racism, going back to slavery. 3) Destroy programs that people pay for themselves, especially Social Security and Medicare. 4) No marriage benefits for you!
Simplify the tax code: Let's cut all the taxes on the rich! Then Romney won't even have to file any returns, much less disclose them!
Thanks for laying it all out, Coats.
After all that, are you fired up?
Ready to go?
GOTV! Vote for Obama! Four More Years!