Yep. Rush has talked much about entrenched staffers. They’ve been around throug many adminstrations...and as we can see from the above example, whole they have an R in front of their office, they are left and more left. This is the buzsaw that Sarah Palin rn into during her campaign as Veep, all those wonderful ‘staffers’ willing to help. Same for newly-electyed. If they can’t be trusted, clear all of them out, let’s start fresh. Glad this clown is gone...and glad he wrote what he wrote. Now everyone can see it.
One example comment on this Lofgren piece on another site (these people hate conservatives and are furious with Obama)
Anonymous says:
September 4, 2011 at 7:18 pm
I’m sure that for people like Mark and Keith, who have contractually guaranteed long-term employment and salaries which place them well within the top 10% of income earners, the prospect of a President Perry is, indeed, truly frightening. Perry, his fellow travelers in the Republican Party and the people who support them have no respect for the one thing, superior intellect, which afford Messrs. professors their social and economic standing. It makes sense for Mark and Keith to defend the status quo. They are prospering within it.
Of course there are significant differences between what the Democratic and Republican Parties have to offer. What isn’t discussed so much here are the similarities the two dominant parties share and how these similarities affect the everyday lives of people less fortunate than Mark and Keith more than do the differences.
The most obvious point of affinity between teams red and blue is foreign policy. Despite quibbling over details, all is right in the Washington DC halls of power as long as the military is being used actively to secure access to resources and markets, somewhere, anywhere. So much the better that there is little accounting of the true costs of our imperial adventuring. Vast amounts of resources are misallocated and unimaginably large numbers of innocent people are killed, maimed and/or displaced. But, hey: USA! USA! We’re Number One! This won’t be changing anytime soon so there’s nothing to be gained electorally in the United States by harping on it. Ron Paul and Dennis Kucinich are bi-partisan proof of this.
Another obvious similarity, one that could be germane to the 2012 election if the Democrats had any brains, is economic policy and how it has evolved over the last thirty years to the detriment of the middle and lower classes. Look at this graph of the percentage of jobs lost relative to peak employment tracked over time for each post-WWII recession. The similarity of the lengths and slopes of the 2001 and 2007 lines tells you all you need to know about priorities among the ruling class, Democrat and Republican alike.
There are any number of policies Obama could propose Thursday night in addressing the unemployment calamity that would fire up discouraged liberals. Sincere populist rhetoric followed by concrete legislation would bring a lot of disaffected voters back into his fold (here are three proposals, for example). Sure, the boldest proposals would never pass congress, but then nothing the president actually does propose will likely be acted on. Nevertheless, the process would began the long, slow task of moving the political center back towards the left. That the president will offer only weak tea initiatives (pun intended) that will do little to improve economic conditions tells you all you need to know about Obama’s comfort with the center continuing to drift rightwards. As Brett notes above, the president does not share many convictions with the Left.
A more dramatic picture of the long-term effects of ruling class priorities can be seen here. What does it matter to people in the bottom 80% of the income distribution whether we’re being screwed by President Obama or President Perry? Despite personal effort and contribution to rising rates of productivity, collective income will continue to either remain flat or decline based on individual circumstance. The deck is stacked regardless of which party is doing the shuffling. What kind of future is that?
Too bad for Mark and Keith if they are made worse off should the Democrats lose next year. For way too many in this country it doesn’t matter who wins. (For proof of this, just look at voter participation rates.) Economically, we’re screwed either way. Not having any disposable income to donate, the only power I have short of taking to the streets is to withhold my vote and convince as many people as I can to do the same. The moment I signal an intention to support the Democrats is the moment they stop caring what I think (not that they care much now). If enough people do likewise the Democrats will either change for the better or go the way of the Whigs.