We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Thursday, November 8, 2012

After election, Obama moves to slash social spending

Click here to access article by Andre Damon from World Socialist Web Site.

This author presents the best, and most succinct summary that I have seen, of what this (mostly) meaningless election circus really means. It means four more years of the same. Like we see after every Democratic election victory, Obama "will reach across the aisle" and make a deal with Republicans to continue spending cuts for social programs while maintaining military spending with an apparent small tax increase for the rich thrown in as cover. 
In his victory speech, Obama made clear his priorities in the aftermath of the election, saying that “in the coming weeks and months, I am looking forward to reaching out and working with leaders of both parties to meet the challenges we can only solve together. Reducing our deficit. Reforming our tax code. 
Because Obama has served the ruling One Percent so well, I previously predicted that he would win this election. Now, feeling so self-confident, I will make another prediction. 

Under the onslaught of austerity policies in the years ahead, we will continue to see very poor economic prospects for the 99 Percent. In two years another election is scheduled for House members of Congress and some senators. In that election I predict that voters will finally give up on "hopey, changey" Obama, and once again exercise their "democratic" rights by "throwing the (existing) rascals out" and elect more conservatives to Congress. Then we will see an accelerated attack on social spending and civil rights, and even more aggressive imperialist adventures. Many will view this as a descent into overt fascism. This is our tragic future unless we of the 99 Percent get really active and organized.

For those of you that follow Wall Street happenings, you might be interested in this piece entitled, "Peter Orszag of Bank Welfare Queen Citigroup is Selling Catfood Futures Hard" from Naked Capitalism.