What A Tangled Web We Weave - Lies Part I

They stand in front of the cameras and microphones with crooked smiles plastered to their faces as they tell the people what it's thought they want to hear. No, the sky isn't falling, yes, there will be a better tomorrow. The past 30 years or so has brought with it a new world order, one that promises a better future for everyone, but the reality is in sharp contrast. The facts seem to tell me that not only is the sky falling, the earth is also about to open up and swallow us, due in no small part to the fact that people seem to accept the lies that they are told. I don't have the slightest idea why we seem to keep buying the lies, but I do know that now that Hillary is out of the picture, the real campaign for the presidency will start in earnest, which will bring with it a whole new level of BS.

Let's start with the economy stupid. The biggest lie, and the one that is almost universally accepted, is that the Republicans and their candidate represent fiscal responsibility, an idea somehow pulled from their "belief" in small government. Or maybe it's still belief in Alan Greenspan who had to be pulled out of the closet to get the public ready for increasing interest rates during an "economic slowdown". Stagflation fears. The "spiral" in prices feared needs to come as we've, America in particular, spent ourselves too far into debt. Us, as individuals, and them as the government can't continue the borrow and spend ways of the past century or so. The red ink has been picking up pace since the 80's when Reagan spent the reds into the ground. But he also pumped up the monster that is the military complex to unsustainable levels while ordering the people to spend as recklessly to keep the economy ticking. The man who invented "Reagonomics", David Stockman, has been indicted for stealing people's money, but that is what the American government, most pronouncedly during Republican reigns, has done. Stockman later repented, decrying the policies he helped create, but we'll get more of the same if McBush gets elected.

The past 3 decades have brought us so much. Taxes on the rich have fallen, while taxes on the rest have risen with predictable results. Measured in 2005 dollars the net worth of the top 2% of American families more than doubled from just over $1 million to over $2 million from 1984 to 2005 while the bottom quarter saw their worth actually fall. In fact, the poorest 10% have a negative net worth. The US national debt has increased from $930 billion in 1980 to $9.5 trillion today. Consumer credit in the US has risen to over $2.5 trillion, adding around $10 billion a month. All for what? A better life? A new TV, or better yet, a new God Car. The neo-cons have completed their transformation of McCain into McBush and he is now a die-hard tax cutter for the rich, doling out the odd stimulus cheques so we can at least go to the mall once a month. Leaving the rest of us to work more to pay for the extravagances. The phenomenon isn't confined the the US, Europe is in similar straits, and the powers that be have decided that people simply have to work more, and have therefore raised the maximum number of working hours to 65 from 48. Of course, this only matters if you're lucky enough to have a job. Well, you need enough money to put gas in the car and food on the table. Oh yeah, those costs are rising too ... which brings us to part 2 of lies tomorrow.