Posted on 01/05/2013 9:36:07 AM PST by SeekAndFind
The politics of the “fiscal cliff” deal is debatable: On the one hand, Boehner got the “Bush tax cuts” made permanent for most Americans; Obama was forced to abandon his goal of increasing rates for those earning $250,000. On the other, on taxes Republicans caved to the same class-warfare premises (the rich need to pay their “fair share”) they’d successfully fought off a mere two years ago; while on spending the Democrats not only refused to make cuts, they refused to make cuts even part of the discussion.
Which of the above is correct? Who cares? As I said, the politics is debatable. But the reality isn’t. I hate to keep plugging my book After America in this space, but if you buy multiple copies they’ll come in very useful for insulating your cabin after the power grid collapses. At any rate, right up there at the front — page six — I write as follows:
“The prevailing political realities of the United States do not allow for any meaningful course correction. And, without meaningful course correction, America is doomed.”
Washington keeps proving the point. The political class has just spent two months on a down-to-the-wire nail-biting white-knuckle thrill-ride negotiation the result of which is more business as usual. At the end, as always, Dr. Obama and Dr. Boehner emerge in white coats, surgical masks around their necks, bloody scalpels in hand, and announce that it was touch and go for a while but the operation was a complete success — and all they’ve done is applied another temporary band-aid that’s peeling off even as they speak. They’re already prepping the OR for the next life-or-death surgery on the debt ceiling, tentatively scheduled for next Tuesday or a week on Thursday or the third Sunday after Epiphany.
(Excerpt) Read more at nationalreview.com ...
60 Facts That Prove The American Middle Class Is Being Wiped Out
January 5, 2013 By Breaking News
The middle class in the United States is being systematically destroyed, and nobody is doing much of anything to stop it. Our incomes are shrinking, our share of the income pie is at an all-time low, our jobs are being sent overseas, debt burdens have soared to unprecedented heights and millions of formerly middle class Americans have fallen into poverty.
America once had the largest and most vibrant middle class that the world has ever seen, but now it is rapidly being shredded. Unfortunately, this is particularly true for younger Americans. Today, families that have a head of household that is under the age of 30 have a poverty rate of 37 percent.
That is astounding.
The truth is that there are not enough decent jobs for the hordes of young people that are entering the marketplace each year. Once upon a time, a college degree was just about a guaranteed ticket to the middle class, but in 2011 more than half of all college graduates under the age of 25 were either unemployed or underemployed. Sadly, statistics tell us that the younger you are, the less likely you are to have a chance to live “the American Dream”. Nearly half the country already lives in a household that receives direct financial assistance from the federal government, and that percentage grows with each passing day.
We are rapidly being transformed from a country of middle class citizens into a country of impoverished government dependents.
If dramatic changes are not made, the middle class in America will continue to decline every single year. What would our society look like if the middle class disappeared entirely at some point?
The following are 60 facts that prove that the middle class in America is being wiped out…
http://www.westernjournalism.com/category/news/
Mark Steyn ping
I especially like “The Algae that ate Detroit.”
bump
I think Steyn has identified the Obama Doctrine. Or at least the Obama definition of American exceptionalism.
(And in other news: As a concession to Al Gore's green agenda, it was stipulated in the sale of Current TV that al-Jazeera will henceforth be known as Algaezeera.)
Yeah, that's pretty much it. Pass the wine.
Ad for buying tickets to 0bama Inaug. at site. 0bamunist chutzpah!
Unfortunately, I think the ass clown in chief believes the hokey-pokey is actually what it's all about.
Classic Steyn analogy.
It should be pretty easy to convince people that the way the govt is currently operating is completely irresponsible. Bills hundreds of pages in length voted on 10 minutes after being released? Bills full of pork, no limits on spending? How could they defend this if people started to raise hell about this?
Americans could stand up to what is needed and do it, but most of them do not even know there is a problem because they are told “there is no problem”.
The MSM has become Democrat Pravda. We need to keep getting facts out, and maybe we can salvage the country.
Fantastic writing by Mr. Steyn.
The smart people in America right now are prepping for the collapse.
I agree with Steyn that America is doomed. However, after so many years of watching the leftist idiots run this country into the ground, I no longer really care.
Americans could stand up to what is needed and do it, but most of them do not even know there is a problem because they are told “there is no problem”.
Bingo.
bump & a Ping
Mark Steyn ping.
Freepmail me, if you want on or off the Mark Steyn ping list.
Thanks for the ping neverdem.
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