Ayn Rand Hates America http://onesinglecandle.posterous.com Most recent posts at Ayn Rand Hates America posterous.com Tue, 06 Dec 2011 14:32:14 -0800 Good for President Obama, he needs to beat this drum loudly. Make the right wing defend their failed economics #p2 http://onesinglecandle.posterous.com/good-for-president-obama-he-needs-to-beat-thi http://onesinglecandle.posterous.com/good-for-president-obama-he-needs-to-beat-thi Obama_00e74-6148.jpg


I believe this message wins, because it is the truth.  Quoting President Obama:

“It’s a simple theory — one that speaks to our rugged individualism and healthy skepticism of too much government. It fits well on a bumper sticker. Here’s the problem: It doesn’t work,” Obama said of supply-side economics, drawing extended applause. “It’s never worked.”

He repeatedly conjured the image of a country that is becoming more divided by inequality. He linked the Tea Party to the Occupy Wall Street protesters, saying it is little wonder that the “breathtaking greed of a few” who caused the financial crisis has generated a “raging debate over the best way to restore growth and prosperity, balance and fairness.”

“This isn’t just another political debate. This is the defining issue of our time,” he said. “This is a make or break moment for the middle class, and all those who are fighting to get into the middle class.

“At stake is whether this will be a country where working people can earn enough to raise a family, build a modest savings, own a home, and secure their retirement.”



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http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1434258/aynrandlogosquare.jpg http://posterous.com/users/hdouon1UllDVU George Kelley Ayn Hates America George Kelley
Fri, 16 Sep 2011 19:34:01 -0700 There is a moral to this story: never,ever forget. And never forget to vote. http://onesinglecandle.posterous.com/there-is-a-moral-to-this-story-neverever-forg http://onesinglecandle.posterous.com/there-is-a-moral-to-this-story-neverever-forg
The Economist
Republican governors
A collection of new governors in battleground states are stirring things up

COLUMBUS, OHIO

“HERE’S a great quote,” says John Kasich, the governor of Ohio, reading from an article about the cuts he instigated to the state’s subsidies for nursing homes, “‘It took a real bastard to change things.’” Mr Kasich (pictured) is one of a new crop of Republican governors, including Chris Christie of New Jersey, Rick Scott of Florida and Scott Walker of Wisconsin, who seem to relish putting noses out of joint. Their obstreperousness is all the more remarkable given that they are all from swing states, or, in the case of Mr Christie, a resolutely Democratic one. Whether their tactics will help to cement the Republicans’ new-found advantage in those places or doom them to transience is a subject of heated debate.

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http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1434258/aynrandlogosquare.jpg http://posterous.com/users/hdouon1UllDVU George Kelley Ayn Hates America George Kelley
Thu, 08 Sep 2011 18:43:13 -0700 Rick Perry's Ponzi Scheme Lie http://onesinglecandle.posterous.com/rick-perrys-ponzi-scheme-lie http://onesinglecandle.posterous.com/rick-perrys-ponzi-scheme-lie This is a pretty good explanation, from The Economist, hardly a left wing publication. But the lie will be told over and over. Is insurance a Ponzi scheme? The payouts for death benefits, or fire damage, are made with premiums of others. Social Security was never sold as an investment, it is social insurance, where premiums paid pay current benefits.

Just more exploitation of Republican selfishness.

via Democracy in America on 9/8/11

GOING into last night's Republican debate, Rick Perry would have known that people were going to take him to task for his stated views on Social Security, which he has called unconstitutional and a "Ponzi scheme." And when they did, the governor came out swinging. Based on the rapid reactions on Twitter and around the blogosphere, I'm outside the pundit mainstream in thinking that this answer was effective in political terms and even defensible on the merits. Let's look at the exchange:

Well, I think any of us that want to go back and change 70 years of what's been going on in this country is probably going to have a difficult time. And rather than spending a lot of time talking about what those folks were doing back in the '30s and the '40s, it's a nice intellectual conversation, but the fact is we have got to be focused on how we're going to change this program.

And people who are on Social Security today, men and women who are receiving those benefits today, and individuals at my age that are in line pretty quick to get them, they don't need to worry about anything. But I think the Republican candidates are talking about ways to transition this program, and it is a monstrous lie.

It is a Ponzi scheme to tell our kids that are 25 or 30 years old today, you're paying into a program that's going to be there. Anybody that's for the status quo with Social Security today is involved with a monstrous lie to our kids, and it's not right.

The moderator, citing Karl Rove and Dick Cheney's criticisms of Mr Perry's rhetoric on the subject, pressed. (Incidentally, no one is going to score political points against Mr Perry by citing the wisdom of Karl Rove or Dick Cheney, and Mr Perry's shot at Mr Rove—"I'm not responsible for Karl anymore"—also has the effect of distancing himself from the administration of George W. Bush, which some people still think is his albatross.) Mr Perry continued:

Absolutely. If Vice-President Cheney or anyone else says that the program that we have in place today, and young people who are paying into that, expect that program to be sound, and for them to receive benefits when they reach retirement age, that is just a lie. And I don't care what anyone says. We know that, the American people know that, but more importantly, those 25- and 30-year-olds know that.

In the immediate post-debate spin, Mr Romney's team was arguing that in light of Mr Perry's comments, the Texas governor "has lost" because no presidential candidate can win on a campaign to kill Social Security. Reihan Salam, in this post-debate scorecard, suggests that Mr Perry runs the risk of alienating older voters, who are particularly important in a Republican primary.

I'm not convinced. Mr Perry's comments last night were slightly softer than what he has said before. For example, he didn't talk about abolishing the federal programme and remanding that responsibility to the states, which is an idea that should give everyone pause. His rhetoric was nonetheless hyperbolic, but is that intrinsically problematic? Last night's debate was interesting partly because we saw a couple of the candidates, Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman, make salient points in calmer terms, which impressed our live-bloggers and commenters. But voters sometimes respond to hyperbolic arguments. Perhaps Mr Perry was right when he argued that "it's time to have some provocative language in this country."

It may be that Mr Perry's style is preferable on issues such as entitlement reform, where the problems are widely acknowledged but politically intractable. I've argued before on this blog that Social Security is "a pyramid scheme", and been scolded for it—which is fair, because my critique was hyperbolic, like Mr Perry's. But I note that in the rebuttal, Kevin Drum of Mother Jones nonetheless acknowledges that some changes need to be made if Social Security is going to pay out its scheduled benefits in the future. That rather glosses over the point that if making such changes were easy they probably would've been made already.

The fact is that Social Security as it stands has a looming shortfall, as depicted in this chart from the Congressional Budget Office.

And the issue that people are upset about isn't Social Security spending as a share of GDP; indeed, given the current strategies for collecting Social Security funds, the size of the programme as a share of spending is somewhat constrained, unlike the fast-growing burdens of Medicare and Medicaid. No, Mr Perry is targeting Social Security because the current system taxes workers under an explicit commitment to provide described benefits that, as it stands, it cannot meet.

I wouldn't characterise that as a "monstrous lie", because the phrase implies a deliberate deception, but it's clearly objectionable. Mr Perry was quite right to describe it as a generational issue. He might also have pointed out that the people who are going to suffer the most from the Social Security shortfalls are those who disproportionately depend on it as their major or sole source of retirement income, namely women and blacks. Those demographic dimensions make it all the more strange, in my view, that many Democrats are so insensitive to calls for Social Security reform in general, even if they object to the particular reforms being proposed. Why don't we see some action from them on this? Mr Perry's language here is intemperate, but at least he's starting a conversation.

(Photo credit: AFP)

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http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1434258/aynrandlogosquare.jpg http://posterous.com/users/hdouon1UllDVU George Kelley Ayn Hates America George Kelley
Wed, 07 Sep 2011 13:32:11 -0700 I understand the need to play the political game, but the President must get Americans to realize a payroll tax cut will not create one job. http://onesinglecandle.posterous.com/i-understand-the-need-to-play-the-political-g http://onesinglecandle.posterous.com/i-understand-the-need-to-play-the-political-g  Government investment creates jobs. Quit playing into the GOP's hands by offering tax cuts as a panacea to this crisis.

Tax cuts will mildly, very mildly, stimulate the economy, and will increase the deficit.  If we are going to increase the deficit, let it be for worthwhile projects.

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http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1434258/aynrandlogosquare.jpg http://posterous.com/users/hdouon1UllDVU George Kelley Ayn Hates America George Kelley
Wed, 07 Sep 2011 11:27:00 -0700 Surprise! Romney's plan will produce over 6 trillion in deficits, but it will be worth it http://onesinglecandle.posterous.com/surprise-romneys-plan-will-produce-over-6-tri http://onesinglecandle.posterous.com/surprise-romneys-plan-will-produce-over-6-tri

because they give the wealthy and corporations even more of a tax break!  Money well spent.  Also, since the Bush Cheney tax cuts worked so well, let's just make them permanent. And the most important aspect?  Throw away the estate tax, so Romney and the Koch Brothers can build dynasties, providing jobs through eternity for the proletariat!  Of course, wiping the ass of the estate master for less than minimum wage isn't much of a career.

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http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1434258/aynrandlogosquare.jpg http://posterous.com/users/hdouon1UllDVU George Kelley Ayn Hates America George Kelley
Wed, 07 Sep 2011 10:05:27 -0700 Eric Cantor said relief aid must be treated like family budget. He says you cant afford both the car and a medical procedure. If it is like http://onesinglecandle.posterous.com/eric-cantor-said-relief-aid-must-be-treated-l http://onesinglecandle.posterous.com/eric-cantor-said-relief-aid-must-be-treated-l a family budget, the correct analogy is that the family can not afford medical care, the car, or basic improvements because the previous head of household has run up credit card debt paying for wasteful wars, spending sprees at corporations, and rebates for wealthy whores who don't care if the house burns down or not.

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http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1434258/aynrandlogosquare.jpg http://posterous.com/users/hdouon1UllDVU George Kelley Ayn Hates America George Kelley
Sun, 04 Sep 2011 15:15:40 -0700 Quote of the day: If you think Paul Ryan and his Ayn Rand-worshipping colleagues aren't after your Social Security http://onesinglecandle.posterous.com/quote-of-the-day-if-you-think-paul-ryan-and-h http://onesinglecandle.posterous.com/quote-of-the-day-if-you-think-paul-ryan-and-h "If you think Paul Ryan and his Ayn Rand-worshipping colleagues aren't after your Social Security and Medicare, I am here to disabuse you of your naiveté. They will move heaven and earth to force through tax cuts that will so starve the government of revenue that they will be "forced" to make "hard choices" - and that doesn't mean repealing those very same tax cuts, it means cutting the benefits for which you worked."  Recently retired GOP  Congressional staffer named Mike Lofgren


http://www.truth-out.org/goodbye-all-reflections-gop-operative-who-left-cult/1314907779

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