[Cross-posted at The Left Coaster.]
Such was the very accurate description of Dr. Atrios of Eschaton to in fact all Senate Republicans these days, not just Mitch McConnel, petulant angry ideologues hating a critical legislative function so much they’re threatening to blow themselves and the country up, perversely counting on the Democrats to rush in and save them as their thumbs twitch over the kill switch.
It’s impossible to overstate the screaming danger and precarious, teetering position of the present US economy, if we don’t pump as much cash into it through unemployment relief and rescue the States from ripping their employment budgets America is smashed into its Great Depression II, there is absolutely zero doubt of that.
This is simple, completely obvious economics with total consensus from the professional economic community, yet somehow the Republicans hate it vehemently and finally barfed up one of the most stupidly offensive and childishly immature legislative responses to counter the very wise and good House CARES act. Why is that?
Well, Republicans believe in government and spending, all right, but vociferously in only things they believe in: coddling business and the rich while frantically buying any weapon ever devised. Anything else is just hated liberal big government that advances those filthy aims like equality, fairness and liberty.
Very true, but in this particular evolution there’s an added twist of Republican revulsion, helping the unemployed with real money and exposing the present cruelty of American wages, which could easily move the employment market to more worker money.
Sacrilege! Outrage! Catastrophe! A basic shining core principle of the modern Republican Party is to brutally keep the labor market and wages down, the consequences never matter as long as the profits roll in. The CARES act gives workers leverage and wages, oh my god stop it!
Also, too, emergency benefits for workers fits into the American conservative worldview that liberalism is just a mechanism of lazy grift, a way for citizens to exploit capitalism so citizens can have an easy life without work. It’s total bull and another story, but important to know now in understanding the current Republican stance of political suicide.
That’s not an exaggeration. President Trump and Senate Republicans are completely, irrevocably trapped, none of their market rationalizations work for stopping unemployment and State relief because it’s a total emergency, not-normal times mean not-normal solutions, mental chickenshit whining about welfare queens is useless if you smash the economy doing it.
There’s that, but that little political element of Election 2020 is, you know, 97 days away! To cut off unemployment and allow evictions in a pandemic with the voting switch right there, well, suicide is a mild word for that political behavior, oh yes.
Yet still in all of this the Republicans have refused to act for months, finally this week putting forth the most childish, stupid, irresponsible, grossly immature legislative proposal ever to be worked up in this country. Jefferson save us, no aid to the States, ripped unemployment benefits and petulant fuck you’s in building a new FBI building and more defense spending (!). Hello Great Depression Two!
The lying, furtive, brutally cruel political representation of this insanity appeared on the PBS Newshour last night to desperately try and advance it, one Mitch McConnel, Senate Majority Leader, and the results were predictably disastrous and disgusting.
Senator McConnel, you don’t exist anywhere near the plane of decency and honesty of Ms Woodruff, she’s Ms Woodruff to you, don’t you ever dare to use her first name without permission again.
Pinned over the incredulous cruelty of cutting off unemployment benefits, Senator McConnell repeatedly backpedaled into a vague admission that no one really wants to see that, hurried lying that fooled no one.
How could a new FBI building ever be considered covid-19 relief? Why didn’t you tell the White House no before you let this embarrassing stupid mistake appear?
McConnel just ignored Ms Woodruff and woodenly repeated that the idiocy of a new FBI building and more defense spending would not make it until the final bill. He offered no hope, he had zero economic knowledge, knew full well he represented suicidal economic and political catastrophe yet blithely lied that it was only Wednesday, somehow Democratic Party solutions could lead us out of this without McConnel having to admit it. Right?
The sick, convoluted political ethos of DC expects this, Dr. Atrios noted this too, the Republicans get to act like ridiculous children while Pelosi and Schumer act like adults and save the country. If they can’t this time then Vladimir will see how his 2016 Election play really, really payed off.