Extortion, Explained

I think it is a good idea to take a look at the extortionate demands the Republican party is now making in return for not crashing the global economy.  If you haven't looked at them in a little detail, you probably have little idea just how piggish and extreme they are.  So here, from a list compiled by Ezra Klein, are some of the details, along with Green Eagle's comments:

a yearlong delay of Obamacare-

An attempt to destroy legally enacted legislation through brute force financed by the rich.

Rep. Paul Ryan’s tax reform plan-
A massive giveaway to the rich, financed by cutting programs for the poor and middle class, and a total non-starter when it was proposed as actual legislation.  Now, they will try to blackmail the country into accepting it.

the Keystone XL pipeline-

A giveaway to the energy industry, with no appreciable benefit for the American people.

more offshore oil drilling-

A giveaway to the energy industry

more drilling on federally protected lands-

A giveaway to the energy industry

rewriting of ash coal regulations-
A giveaway to the energy industry

a suspension of the Environmental Protection Agency’s efforts to regulate carbon emissions-

A giveaway to the energy industry (is this starting to sound a little boring, already?)

more power over the regulatory process in general-
A giveaway to virtually every large corporate interest in the world

reform of the federal employee retirement program-

I.e. cutting federal employees' pensions to help pay for the above

an overhaul of the Dodd-Frank financial regulations-
Making sure that Wall Street guys can continue to plunder our savings, and seeing to it that another depression is just around the corner.

more power over the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s budget-

I.e. gutting its ability to protect consumers.

repeal of the Social Services Block Grant
Here is a partial list of what Social Services Block Grants pay for:

"SSBGs fund a variety of initiatives for children and adults including:
  • Daycare
  • Protective services
  • Special services to persons with disabilities
  • Adoption
  • Case management
  • Health related services
  • Transportation
  • Foster care
  • Substance abuse
  • Housing
  • Home-delivered meals
  • Independent/transitional living
  • Employment services"
So, in the end, making the poor and middle class pay for more giveaways to the rich

more means-testing in Medicare-

I.e. cutting people off from medical care, to leave more money available for the rich

repeal of the Public Health trust fund
And here is some of what the Public Health trust fund will pay for, at a cost of about $1 billion a year:
Chronic Disease Self-Management Program
Alzheimer's Disease Prevention Education and Outreach
Clinical Preventive Services Task Force
National Public Health Improvement Initiative 
State Healthcare Associated Infections  Prevention
Immunization
Tobacco Use Prevention
Environmental Public Health Tracking

and more.

And more! As if that were not enough.  Any sentient observer of the American political scene will be aware that the above is pretty much a list of every piggish theft of our national wealth which the Republicans have been pursuing for decades.  And here it is in one neat little package!  Not, mind you, with a shred of pretense that this can possibly be enacted by democratic methods with the approval of the American people, no matter how many billions their rich masters have spent spreading every lie they can think of, to deceive the people into believing that only the rich deserve the aid and protection of the government.  No, they are now reduced to achieving their corrupt agenda through threats and extortion, because they themselves realize that even the American voters aren't stupid enough to voluntarily resign themselves to becoming third world peasants.  So they are now going to try to jam the end of democracy down our throats, by making the alternative the impoverishment of everyone who is not already very rich.


Will it work?  Not if Obama acts the way he is now talking.  But of course, he has talked tough and acted weak so many times before, that I for one have no confidence in a good outcome  We'll see soon what happens.  In the meantime, like a trip to the dentist, at this point, the sooner it's over with, the sooner we can get on with (whatever is left) of our lives.

Comments

Jerry Critter said…
They make exorbitant demands which if not met will cause global catastrophe, and then expect compromise.

That is like me kidnapping your wife and children and demanding a billion dollars or I will kill them, hoping we will compromise with me getting $500 million, and you getting your wife and kids back.

Of course my scenario is illegal. What they are doing should be illegal also.

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