Everything we are told now is pure propaganda, strictly to maintain appearances. The geriatric set have a death grip on the U.S. political system and the last thing they want is change. They are fully aware that the ship is keeled over and heading for the bottom, but they have convinced themselves that since they are on the upper decks, that the water line won't get to them, in their lifetime...
Think about it in terms of this ongoing government spending charade. It's a charade because the three biggest programs are Social Security, Medicare and Defense - all heavily endorsed by old people at the expense of the young. All of these three major programs are considered politically off limits, which means any budget cuts would have to come out of the smallest part of the government budget which also constitutes programs that assist people under the age of 50. Attempting to have a meaningful budget discussion when 2/3 of the budget is off the table, is merely rearranging deck chairs. Meanwhile, no one under the age of 50, who can do basic arithmetic, thinks that Social Security or Medicare will pay them a dime back. Those programs have been systematically raided by politicians for thirty years straight, hobbled by the aging demographic bulge (aka. Baby Boomers), and weakened by the bad economy and shrinking wage base. All variables are moving in the wrong direction for these programs and there is absolutely no political will to change them. Obama is less likely to change those programs than Bush, if that's even possible. Paul Krugman, chief liberal economist, himself said let those programs run unreformed until they collapse around 2025. Run the fuckers into the ground. Paul Ryan's proposed plan was not much different - no change for people over 50, but major "reform" (aka. haircut) for everyone under 50. In other words, the generation that fucked up these programs gets a free ride...
Milton Bradley Defense Strategy
Then of course, there is the Defense budget which doubled since 9/11. Who wanted those wars? It was aging and fearful Baby Boomers who wanted vindication for Vietnam and saw a chance to get it with no skin off their back. What would they be doing if they were the ones who had to do the fighting? We know what they would be doing - burning draft cards, dropping LSD, and rioting at the Democratic National Convention, a la 1968. By contrast, young people have consistently voted against the war platform this past decade, not only because they are the ones forced to do the fighting, but also because they know it's just more business for the Military Industrial Complex and most young people don't take pride in their government running around the world pretending to be super cop. Everyone who isn't watching Faux News 24x7 knows that the super cop image is complete bullshit. Meanwhile, the way this country treats its returning veterans is a hideous disgrace. There is apparently unlimited resources for new vastly overpriced weapon systems, but almost no decent amount of resources to support the young returning veterans who fought the battles at the behest of the geriatric armchair generals. And don't get me started on this recent Chuck Hagel nomination fiasco. Yet another combat veteran dragged through the muck by the Neocons. He of course has combat experience, but alas, he wasn't "hawkish" enough for the Neocons - NONE of whom have ever been in combat. By contrast, Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, were all ultra-hawks loved by the Neocons, zero combat experience between them. It's amazing how much one can love war when someone else is doing the fighting. Men who don't have combat experience should not be allowed to make military decisions. History 101.
The bottom line is that the Baby Boomers will go down in U.S. history as being the first generation to have left the country in far worse shape than they found it. From the get-go, their transition to power, coinciding with the rise of the Neocons, has been one deceptive policy after another, each one weakening the U.S. instead of renewing its strength. These buffoonish pseudo-patriots parading around on Faux News, have inflicted far more damage to the U.S. than any foreign threat could ever dream of inflicting. Yet pure arrogance and stupidity blinds them from comprehending the inevitable disastrous consequences of their advocated policies. This overriding compulsion to continually deny reality and otherwise make up every excuse to maintain the status quo, is the fundamental root of all of this nation's problems. But again, per the image above, there are a plurality of eligible voters out there who really don't give a damn what happens ten or twenty years from now, as long as nothing changes in the meantime.
Young people historically could trust that their elders were wise and would make decisions that were in their long-term best interest. That misplaced trust that apparently is still intact today, will be this younger generation's fatal miscalculation. And of course, the Baby Boomers who have been plugged into Faux News and otherwise assume they are getting away with bankrupting their children and grandchildren, will be the most surprised when this all comes crashing down, far sooner than expected...
P.S.
No Way Out of the Village of Idiots
Friday's sequester gave a rare opportunity for us to simplify the math even further, to show the math challenged talking heads that the debt is now non-amortizing. We learned this week that fourth quarter GDP was a mere .1% higher than it was in the prior quarter. However, the sequester combined with the January tax increase equate to a full percentage of negative GDP impact and hence those actions alone could easily push the U.S. back into recession. Meanwhile however, those combined fiscal actions only reduce the deficit by a mere 15% i.e. chump change. And of course, in recession, the deficit will begin to rise again due to increased jobless claims etc...
