Sunday, September 13, 2009

FailFest, 2009

This week, thousands of protesters gathered at the nation's capital in order to, according to their own testimony, protest the Obama Administration's actions in general and the fact that the government is too large for their taste. A number of people carried protest signs, many brought their children, pets, and lawn chairs. It was more like a carnival than an organized protest.

Allow me to explain why I describe this as a "FailFest", and say that it is perhaps the largest one of the year, not counting Jonas Brothers concerts.

Starting from the top: the protest of the Obama Administration's actions. What are they protesting? The increase in scientific funding, or perhaps the fact that detainees that had previously been determined to be held without trial for life will now get the chance to challenge their sentence, or maybe the significant steps that he has taken towards saving our economy from crumbling to the ground.

Ah, I remember now, many of them said that they are protesting the large amount of government funding. I remember hearing an interview with one teenager who said something along the lines of "You only have a successful economy if you are taking in more than you are spending."

Now, by the time Bush left office, we had a national deficit. If I'm not mistaken, that means that you have spent more than you were taking in. Where were these protesters then? I know that people were protesting Bush's actions, but it was not these people. The majority of these protesters were okay with Bush spending enormous amounts of money on useless wars, but are somehow against Obama doing it in order to stabilize our country's economy.

Want another interesting fact? Do you know what causes a recession? **looks both ways** People not spending enough money. That's right. All of you who heard about the failing economy and so decided to stash your money underneath your mattress (I am not using this as a figure of speech; people actually did this) worsened our economy. The only way to get us out of this problem is to stimulate the economy. You know how we do that? I'll give you a hint: it doesn't involve a French Tickler. You spend money.

Something else that no one really mentions: the major items that Obama has spent money on have not resulted in a single death. No innocents were killed when he increased funding to our economy; no American soldiers had to go fight and die in order to stimulate our economy.

Now, some more issues with this little protest: the signs. A number of the signs included the "TEA Party" thing, which some people say stands for "Taxed Enough Already". I want to know how many of these people are in the upper 5% of the economic ladder. Because 95% of Americans have lower taxes, but most don't notice. Unlike previous attempts, it didn't come in the form of a single lump sum, but rather small increases on paychecks. Now, why did Obama do it this way? Well, when you hand someone a $5,000 check, a lot of people will go out and buy a flat-screen TV or a car, which is great. But when people get an additional $10 a week or month, even if they don't notice it, it lets them pay for their groceries, put some more away for a child's college fund, and pay for health insurance. This is the smart way to help people sort out their lives.

Another issue I have with the "TEA Party" slogan is the reference to the Boston Tea Party, which was due to the fact that the people were taxed without representation. However, the American people (with one small exception) have representation. We elect the state and national levels of Congress, and the president. Simply because the person you like didn't win does not mean you don't have representation. So, unless these people live in Washington, DC, their claim is bunk.

This does not even begin to scratch the surface as to why these people fail, but it is the most my heart can take right now. If I offended you, good. Write back with a well thought out reply, and see if you can avoid insults any stronger than the one I used, which, unless I am mistaken, was limited to saying that these people 'fail'.

5 comments:

ragail89 said...

Hey,
Hope all is well at school for you. Just figured I would chime in seeing as I was one of those who was planning on going to "FailFest" as you call it ( until plane tickets were 400 and there were no hotels with free rooms). Not everyone who were there were idiots. We have always agreed to disagree politics wise so this is with all due respect. Personally I wanted to DC to protest Excess spending, Bailouts, and Obamacare in its current form ( I am not opposed giving those without access to healthcare but the current bill, like he said in his speech, needs to be re-worked.) I am not a fan of the bailouts and the massive deficit spending. YES I understand your point that Bush left us in a deficit but my problem is with the Bailouts that have pushed the national debt higher and higher... I think even Uncle Sam's Amex has a limit. I don’t think that I failed, even though it was from my TV, I learned a lot and heard some intriguing speakers. But hey to each their own. I look forward to your next posts, its great to get info from both sides of the debate. (May I suggest or pose a question to you…What is your take on ACORN and the recent press it has garnered?)
Sincerely,
Your Crazy Conservative Pal
AG

thefoolish said...

First of all, Andy, thank you for leaving the first comment on my blog and being civil about it. Now to respond to issues you raised.

My first piece of evidence of the hypocrisy of many of those involved in this protest is TARP. This was a bailout involving hundreds of billions of dollars that did almost nothing. However, the majority of the people involved in these protests sung its praises. You wanna know why I think? It was done by Baby Face Bush. Now, not all people were silent, but a large majority of this angry mob was.

Now, I only heard a defense from you of one of the topics that I had mentioned. What about the TEA Party stuff, and those who call Obama a socialist without even knowing what's wrong with Socialism (I'm going to have a separate post on this later), those who complain that Obama is raising taxes without acknowledging the fact that he has lowered it for them, or won't even admit any of the good he has done?

Also, in my defense, I never called them 'idiots'.

foolish out.

nineinchnall said...

Oh, but I certainly will call them idiots. I'll call them worse if I get the chance. Oh, wait: this is the net, and I can say whatever I damn well please.

If someone is complaining or protesting about Obama's spending and did not complain or protest about Bush's spending, then
- that person is a hypocrite.
- that person is ignorant of reality.
- that person believes whatever Sean Hannity spews.

It's completely infuriating to have to educate people on basic history and current events just in preparation for having a real discussion. It's conducive to homicidal rage when a conversation goes like this:

Conservative: My wife and I for years have rated peoples' liberalism in a scale of douchebaggeriness...lol the bigger the liberal one is directly correlates with how big a douchebag that person is. Aren't we wonderful people.
Me: So, how about you show me a quiz to see if I'm a conservative?
Conservative: That would be fun to create
Are you giving me a chore
Me: yep
Conservative: Of course you realize too many people confuse conservatism with religious. My quiz would cover religion, but would be more focused on the constitutional interpretations of the establishment clause.
**** claims to be a liberal, but when you start talking to him, he really isn't. He is really just a one issue guy (church and state) and associates liberals with generally being aligned with his position on that single issue, but it is a false assumption.
Question one. Do you believe in free speech?
Me: yeppers
Within certain bounds.
Conservative: I wish the majority of liberals did, but they really don't.
Me: I could say the same for conservatives.
Conservative: you could, but it would be a lie
Me: People hate free speech, in general, when it's speech they don't like.
Conservative: No, liberals hate free speech. Especially those in education, unions and politics
or those who actually want to 'be involved'
Me: And here is where you do the same thing as those who conflate religion with conservativism.
Conservative: now we have our piece of shit Obama bussing in union goons to silence the people. And what does the media do? They fucking play right along with him
but I don't
Me: Yes, actually you are.
Conservative: Conservative speakers on college campuses get attacked, heckled down, and cancelled due to security concerns. Not liberals
No you are ignoring reality to make a point/.
which is point one for you towards being a liberal....lol
when liberals gather to protest, do you see conservatives bussing in uinion goons to shout them down, attack them and initimidate them? No But they are fucking doing that right no0w. today


This is an excerpt from an actual conversation, with a guy who prides himself on keeping up with the news and being an informed, thoughtful voter. I mean ... The level of delusion here is astounding.

thefoolish said...

This is a post by Jay Brandt, who for some reason was unable to save his comments onto the blog:

It's not just that Bush began the auto and bank bail outs...the Republicans and teabaggers have ignored Republican excesses and deficits for a long time...while bashing Obama after just 8 months in office.

When Reagan (Republican) took office in 1981, the national debt stood at $995 billion. Twelve years later, by the end of George H.W. Bush’s (Republican) presidency, it had exploded to $4 trillion. Reagan was a “B” grade movie actor and a doddering, probably clinically senile president, but he was a sheer genius at rewarding his friends by saddling other people with debts.

However, by the end of Clinton's Presidency (Democrat) he had erased Reagan and Bush's deficits and had a surplus that amounted to $236 billion. The ten year forcast showed the surplus stood at $5.6 trillion. It was the last black ink America would see for decades, perhaps forever.

Bush the Second (back to the Republicans...we never learn!) blew through Clinton's surplus in his first year in office!! He had us in debt even before the banking and auto industry began to crash! He had us back in the Republican hole by 2004!! The 2004 deficit reached $415 billion. Still, its real size was masked by the fact that Bush has shifted $150 billion from the Social Security trust fund in order to make the shortfall look smaller. It’s like pretending you’re richer when you move money from one pocket to another. Both sums have to be repaid, so the real amount borrowed is the $415 billion “nominal” deficit plus the $150 billion from Social Security or $565 billion. 2004!! Where were the teabaggers...where were the Republicans in Congress?? Why were they so quiet then and so out of control now??
According to USA Today (7/28/08) "The White House has increased its estimate for next year's deficit to nearly $490 billion, a record figure that will saddle the next president with deepening budget problems in his first year in office, a report due out Monday shows.
The projected deficit for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1 is being driven higher by the continuing economic slowdown and larger-than-anticipated costs of the two-year, $168 billion fiscal stimulus package passed by Congress, said two senior administration officials with direct knowledge of the report. In February, President Bush predicted the 2009 deficit would be $407 billion"

So...it looks like the teabaggers had the wrong name on all their signs! These deficits were predicted by Bush's White House. Yes the current deficit is higher than Bush predicted...the crisis was even worse than Bush let us know and Obama took the necessary steps to turn our economy around. Again from USA Today: "The actual 2009 deficit could climb still higher because the new projection does not reflect full funding for the wars. In addition, a worsening economy could add to the red ink by reducing tax revenue and increasing safety-net payments, such as jobless benefits and food stamps."

Just a few more notes:
Since Obama's been in office:
1. The stock market has been on an upward trend for the last 5 months...the best run in two years.

2. A year ago the banking system was in collapse and a depression was predicted...it's now in recovery. A number of banks have repaid billions to the government and we made a PROFIT!

3. The auto industry is begining a slow turn around...some layed off workers have been rehired. Cash for Clunkers poured some needed capital into the system and helped reduced bloated inventories.

4. Home sales and prices are beginning to rise.

And those shouting the loudest are more than likely those benefitting from Obama's efforts the most."

thefoolish said...

FailFest, 2009 video! Yippee!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUPMjC9mq5Y

foolish

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