Oh, What a Lovely Class War!

[babylonsister]

http://www.consortiumnews.com/2009/031109b.html

Oh, What a Lovely Class War!

By Michael Winship
March 11, 2009

Editor’s Note: Whenever anyone takes note of the growing concentration of wealth in the hands of America's super-rich or suggests rolling back some of George W. Bush's tax cuts for the wealthy, the American Right starts complaining about "class warfare."

In this guest essay, Michael Winship examines exactly who has been waging class warfare against whom:



My goodness, how they howl when the proverbial shoe is on the proverbial other foot. You'd think the Red Army had just left Moscow and was preparing a frontal assault on the Federal Reserve.

So what are conservatives, Wall Street and financial television commentators shouting? Socialists!

snip//

According to Harvey Rosenfield, president of the Consumer Education Foundation, "Depression-era programs that would have prevented the financial meltdown that began last year were dismantled, and the warnings of those who foresaw disaster were drowned in an ocean of political money. Americans were betrayed, and we are paying a high price - trillions of dollars - for that betrayal."

The truth of the matter may be that, as Nate Silver wrote at FiveThirtyEight.com, "The stock market is engaged in something of a pity party - the prevailing emotions being fear and loathing. It is concerned about policies which might be burdensome to equity holders in large corporations while perhaps nevertheless being boons to economic recovery."

Add to that a heavy dose of petulance, arrogance and malice stirred further by any attempt at curtailing their rice pudding days.

While the dives in the stock markets are real enough, the screams and rending of bespoke garments carry more than the hint of self-inflicted wounds, in the manner of spoiled kids saying "I meant to do that," when they break a toy, even though this administration is seeking solutions by joining hands with the very financial institutions that got us into the jam in the first place - including private equity firms and hedge funds.

Cries of Socialism! - with their insinuations of sedition and Bolsheviks under the bedstead - ring hollow, especially with the threat of global Communism 20 years past and many in the financial world opting for expediency over ideology.

The basic truth is that there are no easy answers, no quick fixes, no kiss to the body politic that will make it all better.

Nonetheless, they lash out, flailing madly, saddling up straw horses and conjuring memories of McCarthy-like witch hunts, desperate to point the finger at anyone but themselves.

[FiveGoodMen]

1. K&R

[B Whale]

2. Its called fairness you idiots

When a group of people have been picking your pocket for so many years and keeping your hard earned wages down its time for a little redress.

Thing is, the wealthy are fine, they may be slightly less wealthy but they'll always be fine, but the poor when they are screwed, like they have been, they are really really screwed. Its really ugly their way, and a bit nicer our way. there's is the class war

[bemildred]

3. There is no reason to expect these children to grow up.

The question is do you want to continue having them run our economy?