5 thoughts on “When Ken Buck Is The Reasonable One…?”

1. Here’s a idea: CO’s elected Dems could talk about the Progressive Caucus’ budget (maybe even Jared, who somehow became a member) and why it’s better on policy and politics, and then the press could report on “what Democrats said” and then after doing this about 1000 times the message will actually resonate with voters, some of whom might actually vote for a Democrat again because they actually stood for something. 

   Oh, never mind …

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   1. No don’t get pissy Zapper.  The president has spoken about his budget and priorities endlessly and the mainstream media barely gives it notice.  We’re going to have to go in the shitter again with Republican craziness upfront and failing before Democrats will be given another chance to govern.  This nice recovery and continued job growth is taken for granted.

      Buck isn’t stupid but you can bet that he wants to totaly dismantle every government agency that helps the non-rich.  What a terrible person and phoney Christian.

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   2. Do you ever wonder if the right wing’s strategy of breaking government and demoralizing the left is working on you personally, Zap? 

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      1. Sorta….but I’m not the only one. Robert Kuttner sees something:

         Our current political situation is unprecedented. The vast majority of Americans keep falling behind economically because of changes in society’s ground rules, while the rich get even richer — yet this situation doesn’t translate into a winning politics.

         If anything, the right keeps gaining and the wealthy keep pulling away. How can this possibly be?

         Let me suggest seven reasons:

         Reason One. The Discrediting of Politics Itself. The Republican Party has devised a strategy of hamstringing government and making any remediation impossible. Instead of the voters punishing Republicans, the result is cynicism and passivity, so the Republican strategy is vindicated and rewarded.

         The media plays into this pattern by adopting a misleading narrative that makes the gridlock in Washington roughly the equal fault of both parties — with lazy phrases such as “Washington is broken,” or “politics is broken,” or “partisan bickering.” (Do a Google search of those clichés. It will make you sick.) 

         (Michael Bennet is a prime purveyor – and victim – of the “both sides  do it” lie.-ed.)

         Eminent political scientists such as Jacob Hacker (Off-Center) and Thomas E. Mann and co-author Norman Ornstein, a self-described Republican (It’s Even Worse Than It Looks) have thoroughly debunked the premise of symmetrical blame. It’s Republicans who are the blockers. But these scholars and their evidence fail to alter the media storyline, and the damage has been done.

         Reason Two. Compromised Democrats. But the Democrats are hardly blameless. Instead of seizing on the collapse of 2008 as a disgrace for laissez-faire economics, deregulation, Wall Street and the Republican Party, Barack Obama tried to make nice with the GOP, refrained from cleaning out the big banks that caused the mess, and drank the Kool-Aid of budget balance.

         (Here’s where I would link to the story about Bennet and Udall becoming Honorary Blue Dogs to make sure progressives didn’t have too much influence on the White House.-z)

         The result: working people frustrated with economic backsliding had no party that really championed their interests.

         The fateful year 2008 may have been the worst missed moment for revolutionary reform in the history of the Republic — and depending on who gets the Democratic nomination next time and what she does with it, 2016 could rival 2008 as a lost opportunity.

         …

         Reason Five. Bewildering Changes in How Jobs Are Structured. In the past couple of decades, regular payroll jobs with career prospects have increasingly been displaced by an economy of short-term gigs, contract work, and crappy payroll jobs without decent pay and benefits, or even regular hours. This shift often gets blamed on technology or education, but that’s malarkey.

         With a different political balance of forces, regular employees could not be disguised as contract workers; corporate executives could face felony convictions for wage theft; the right to unionize would be enforced; the windfall profits of the “share economy” would actually be shared with workers; large corporations like McDonald’s could not pretend that the wages and working conditions in its franchises were somebody else’s problem — and full employment would give workers more bargaining power generally.

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         1. I appreciate your frustration Zip but I think the situation is more complex than ‘Democrats blew it.  Look at this piece of shit budget where they repeal the ACA but keep a trillion dollars in undelivered services. That kind of incompetence is hard to ignore even for the complicit media.  Buck (pun) up p buddy.  Obama kept the union together and his policies have by and large succeeded.   His budget made sense.  This one is mathematically impossible.

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