2012 - An Ugly Year in American Politics

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The supplemental or extended unemployment benefits will most likely expire on Jan 1, 2012. Which means that unemployed folk will be left high and dry. Desperation time. The economy will take a hit because people receiving the additional income can buy stuff at the store. With the money turned off, sales will plummet and retailers will probably have to cut back on their hiring (or even fire people) and spending. Bad news.

How will this be reflected in the political scene? The Democrats will claim the Republican hard right is sacrificing the well being of unemployed people and the economy itself. They will blame Republicans for the hit on the economy. The Right Republicans will blame the Democrats for imposing a tax burden on business that will lead to a reduction in hiring and spending. And so it will go for ten months. Mutual recriminations, finger pointing, the Blame Game. Yucch!

You got a whiff of it this week. The so-called super committee produced exactly nothing. We have people paid hundreds of thousands of dollars a year to show up in Washington D.C. dressed as Senators and Congresspersons. They collect their pay (and the bribes from lobbyists) and show themselves totally unable to govern. King Obama for better or worse kept his hands off the committee and the total incompetence off all involved showed forth.

It is going to be an ugly year folks. Not a word of reason, no a bit of common sense. Just blame and vituperation. Wait and see.

ruveyn

What did expect with amateur hour going on in the White House?

For the most part it sounds like any other year. SSDD

Nah, since it is an electoral year, both parties will extend the benefits to 2013.

Not sure I care anymore. If Big-O wins again, businesses will remain firmly entrenched in the non hire phase for at least 4 more years. If the repubs win growth will be slow and not show up for another 10 years when the next democratic regime will be in power.

Are you sure that you don't have a man-crush going on?

Anyway, usually the year of and the year after a presidential election are pretty quiet. It is usually pretty much impossible for the government to accomplish anything the year before the election.

They will or there will be hell to pay.

Americans tend to be conservative in the abstract but liberal when the rubber meets the road--especially when it's their rubber and the road is full of potholes.

Actually, I think it would be good (long term) to see a disruption in benefits. People need to experience first hand the pain of conservativism at a practical level.

One cannot provide benefits indefinitely if one is unwilling to pay for them. One cannot pay for them if one is unwilling to raise taxes.

Remember, soup is good food...

Hopefully we will replace our government completely. I have always had a feeling there won't be an election in 2012.

Do you care to place a bet on that?

ruveyn

Sorry, but I don't think Conservatives will stand for the left's idea of a government which would be a communist style dictatorship.

Then how about a fascist style dictatorship?

They'll be goose stepping in no time!

You mean like we already are? Americans aren't too good at linking cause and effect. When their benefits get cut, they're not gonna say "hey, this just happened in accordance with conservative economic policy", they're gonna say "who the f**k took away my stuff!! !???". Such is the state of American politics.

I think at this point if Red Dawn happened and the Soviets were replaced with the Chinese, I'd...not be a Wolverine and probably welcome them as liberators.

There is no way we could fight an effective resistance without Patrick Swayze anyway, and Charlie Sheen has gone of the deep end, so we'd be SoL

These Tibetans look really liberated.