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09 April 2011 By Stephen
Lendman It shouldn't surprise that on
April 8, he repeated what's become a habit - breaking
every major campaign pledge by backing reactionary
Republican measures, harming working Americans most,
besides governing lawlessly at home and abroad and
much more, hurtling the nation dangerously far right,
tipping it toward neoserfdom enforced by repressive
harshness. Last December he said: "(W)ithout a willingness to give
on both sides, there's no reason to believe (the
current) stalemate won't continue well into next
year....I am not willing to let that happen....it
would be the wrong thing to do. As a result, we
arrived at a framework for a bipartisan agreement,"
what, in fact, was assured well in advance of his
announcement. Obama's notion of "tough choices"
includes: -- permanent wars; -- greater super-rich
enrichment; -- temporary social benefit
crumbs; as well as -- class warfare through
neoliberal austerity for working Americans, mainly
middle class ones, targeted for elimination. Neither Obama or congressional
allies explain, or that both parties accelerated it in
recent years, most recently on April 8, again
betraying loyal constituents who support him, besides
America's most needy. On April 9, a White House Office
of the Press Secretary announcement said: "Obama praised the agreement
reached to avert a government shutdown, which will
invest in the country's future while making the
largest annual spending cut in history." In other words, Obama claims
credit for benefitting working Americans by depriving
them of vital social services. It's the corrupted
logic driving both parties in lockstep to hand
America's wealth to powerful interests by stealing it
from all others. In his weekly radio address,
Obama said: Cutting spending will "invest in
our future." How he didn't say. "This is good news for
the American people," naming supposed benefits, in
fact, entirely absent. Disingenuously he added: "Reducing spending while
investing in the future is just common sense. That's
what families do in tough times. They sacrifice where
they can, even if it's hard, to afford what's really
important." With Main Street in deep
depression, they've sacrificed plenty because
Washington ignores them, spending recklessly on
militarism, imperial wars, and lavish handouts to Wall
Street and other corporate favorites - sacrosanct
untouchable budget (off-budget, and hidden) priorities
excluded from compromise. A real one would have waged war
on concentrated wealth and power, slashed defense
spending radically, notably by ending imperial wars
and occupations, replaced today's dysfunctional tax
code with a progressive one, guaranteed a living wage
for everyone and enough income for the indigent, as
well as other socially beneficial measures. In fact,
no responsible policies were considered, just
reactionary ones agreed to with much more to come. On April 8, New York Times writer
Carl Hulse headlined, "Deal to Cut $38 Billion Averts
Shutdown," saying: Republicans and Obama "headed off
a shutdown of the government with less than two hours
to spare Friday night under a tentative budget"
sellout to working Americans hurt most, described as a
"compromise." Even Obama admitted, "Programs
people rely on will be cut back," saying they'll have
to begin "liv(ing) within (their) means" or, in other
words, do without vital services eroded or lost ahead
of much greater ones coming. He practically bragged,
in fact, about "making the largest annual spending cut
in our history" on the backs of those least able to
afford it. The "deal" involves social
spending cuts for a stop-gap continuing resolution to
fund government through April 14, as well as a broader
agreement to do it through September 30, the end of
the fiscal year. Next week, Congress will finalize the
details, pass the measure and send it to Obama for his
signature. At least $38 billion in mostly
unspecified social spending cuts were made, perhaps
more, a down payment before greater ones coming,
involving Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.
Along with other vital programs, they're headed for
incremental elimination to return America to 19th
century harshness, an idea Republicans, Democrats, and
Obama support. A previous article explained
his sellout to Republicans last year on extending tax
cuts to America's aristocracy, accessed through the
following link: http://sjlendman.blogspot.com/2010/12/obama-capitulates-to-republicans.html Stephen Lendman lives in
Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.
Also visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and
listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished
guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the
Progressive Radio Network Thursdays at 10AM US Central
time and Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs
are archived for easy listening.
http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour/. |
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