The Barfighter by Ivan G. Goldman

Ivan G. Goldman's novel Isaac: A Modern Fable comes out in early 2012 from Permanent Press.

Amazon.com

Powell's Books

    Apparently it's not such a good idea after all for Tea Party bozos who have no understanding of economics to call the shots on fiscal policy, although it's hard to take the S&P downgrade that seriously when you consider it contained a $2 trillion math error. Seems like a mighty big error, don't you think? Economics is not horseshoes.

  Meanwhile the White House claims it did a bang-up job in those budget negotiations because the government now won't be held "hostage" by a Republican threat of default. Of course not. Obama already turned over the ransom money. The Republicans don't need hostages anymore.  Everything the President claims to have won in this deal is something he already had anyway. He's like a guy who goes in to trade up for a better car and drives away finally with a worse clunker than the one he drove in with. "Look," he says. "They even let me keep my shirt."Obama's a victim of the Stockholm Syndrome. He seems to think the Republicans he's been locked in rooms with for months are now his benefactors.

"The president stood firm, never blinked and this agreement reflects that," said Gene Sperling, White House economic advisor. He pointed out that the deal protected Pell grants for college students and Medicaid spending. But Obama's power of the veto already had them protected. He didn't understand that because he's too timid to count the veto as part of his arsenal

"Job creators" like Rush Limbaugh, who used some of his extra cash to indulge in sex tourism in the Dominican Republic (remember when he got caught with all that Viagra at the airport?) are untouched by the deficit deal while victims of layoffs, disease, closed classes, and sociopathic bankers are on their own. Seems like those churchy Republicans who insisted on this equation are somewhat morally challenged, doesn't it?

It's also a vital part of the radical Republican mantra that we calm the uncertainty of these job creators, for job creators are a terribly nervous bunch, quick to bolt when they smell regulation or taxes. We must not frighten them, we're told. They're so skittish. We have to be gentle in our dealings. We don't have to be so gentle to everyone else. In fact, we ought to be downright cruel. It will be character-building.

The problem is, the deal to cut government spending will deepen the recession. That's a certainty. The additional job losses will convert taxpayers into homeless vagabonds, increasing the deficit even more. And the disintegrating infrastructure makes it harder to make a buck here. Expect to see jobless Americans out on the sidewalks peddling Chiclets, Rolex knockoffs, and Chinese luggage. That's what people do in underdeveloped countries.