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Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Our Babbling Brooks [NYT] Guides Us through the Mazes of the Perplexed



Abstract: David Brooks writes for the New York Times, as such, and gives us insights into regions of thought and inquiry that we probably never imagined and had no special reason to do so, anyway. Most literary efforts in his immediate surrounds are solidly based upon propaganda of the ultra-Marxist sort moderated, in part, by certain progressive elements. This particular episode had some interesting points that may give any reader some cause for reexamination of what is generally believed in our political arena. Mr Brooks has opened a nasty can of poison here by stressing that the Democrats give details of their future plans in taxes and spending. This is never permitted as such details always undermine the synthetic credibly of the rabid left. The Dems will resist and stick to their race cards and Social Security threats.


David Brooks[1][2] lives in a  world where the word  tautological must be expanded in scope and depth to accommodate most of the hackneyed scribbles and coached mental gyrations of the near-financially bankrupt New York Times—aka the Walter Duranty Papers.[3]  This place is some form of political pressure cooker where as the sun rises revised and stale Marxian ideas and phrases spring forth from the Times and its e-mail machines to all parts of the leftist political world. There, the loyal workers receive their morning manna. The dedicated and True Believers are thus refreshed with fresh slogans and political ammunition. You can see this by watching the morally bankrupt news media pass around the exact same phrases. Stoogery in action.

Today, we wonder about some things:

Let’s say you’re generally a moderate voter. You look at the Romney-Ryan ticket and see that they are much more conservative than you. They don’t believe in tax increases ever. You think tax increases have to be a part of a budget deal. They want to slash social spending to the bone. You think that would be harsh on the vulnerable and bad for social cohesion. [All emphasis is mine except as noted]

 [Note the bias here in red]

You look at the Obama-Biden ticket. You like them personally. But you’re not sure what they want to achieve over the next four years. The country needs big changes, and they don’t seem to be offering many. Where’s the leadership?

[Note more bias here in red]

In this disaffected frame of mind, you ask yourself: What really matters in this election? Well, the big issue is national decline. How can we ensure that the U.S. is as dynamic in the 21st century as it was in the 20th?”[4]--Guide for the Perplexed By DAVID BROOKS Published: August 20, 2012

A Comment:

Well, this follows appropriately with the rigid propagandistic mode of the NYT as the opening blather defines, starkly,  and distinctly apart the two adversaries with stinging bias buttressing up one side. The counter offer is based on us ‘liking’ Obama and Joe Biden, a strange request. The big issue is probably correct as defined as national decline.

The problem is delineated for us immediately:

The biggest threat to national dynamism is spending money on the wrong things. If you go back and look at the federal budgets during the mid-20th century, you see that they spent money on the future — on programs like NASA, infrastructure projects, child welfare, research and technology. Today, we spend most of our money on the present — on tax loopholes and health care for people over 65.”--Guide for the Perplexed By DAVID BROOKS Published: August 20, 2012

This comment is so distant from pure or even impure reason it is difficult to attack it without an axe. Much of our spending was devoted to fighting the Cold War in those days and struggling with the WW2 debt and Marshall Plan and less for those persons who the NYT respect more than the average American citizen.  [Hint: spend more on welfare or ‘ejukashon.’[5]  The Federal budget more than doubled from 1950 to 1959 [$42.6 bln to $92.1 bln.][6] In 1950 military spending was 35% of spending and was 75% during the Korean mess.  Entitlements were only 30%. So, some of David’s prattle makes a bit of sense. We could go on and on but stop here to mention that entitlements are more than half our spending now. Social Security [in 2011] spending was $725 billion and Medicare and Medicaid were $835 billion for 43% of the total budget including the $1.2 trillion dollar deficit. SS will be broke in less than a dozen years.

So, where is David heading?

A study by Jessica Perez and others at the group Third Way lays out the basic facts. In 1962, 14 cents of every federal dollar not going to interest payments were spent on entitlement programs. Today, 47 percent of every dollar is spent on entitlements. By 2030, 61 cents of every noninterest dollar will be spent on entitlements.

Entitlement spending is crowding out spending on investments in our children and on infrastructure. This spending is threatening national bankruptcy. It’s increasing so quickly that there is no tax increase imaginable that could conceivably cover it. And, these days, the real entitlement problem is Medicare.”--Guide for the Perplexed By DAVID BROOKS Published: August 20, 2012

 We all know this. We need to probe for a solution here:


So when you think about the election this way, the crucial question is: Which candidate can slow the explosion of entitlement spending so we can devote more resources toward our future?

Looking at the candidates through this prism, you see that President Obama deserves some credit for taking on entitlement spending. He had the courage to chop roughly $700 billion out of Medicare reimbursements. He had the courage to put some Medicare eligibility reforms on the table in his negotiations with Republicans. He created that (highly circumscribed) board of technocrats who might wring some efficiencies out of the system.”--Guide for the Perplexed By DAVID BROOKS Published: August 20, 2012

The soft Mantle of the Stooge[7] must now be worn by David as this $700 bln was cut out of existing spending to pay for Obama care and that board of technocrats is what Sarah Palin called the Death Squad! The cuts affect providers and force seniors into the dreaded Medicare Advantage plans[8] The CBO sent a letter to House Speaker Boehner on this matter.[9] This letter holds the details although they are complicated projections.

 Okay David, what do we do??

You’re still deeply uncomfortable with many other Romney-Ryan proposals. But first things first. The priority in this election is to get a leader who can get Medicare costs under control. Then we can argue about everything else. Right now, Romney’s more likely to do this.

All of which causes you to look over to the Democrats and wonder: Why don’t they have an alternative? Silently, a voice in your head is pleading with them: Put up or shut up.

If Democrats can’t come up with an alternative on this most crucial issue, how can they promise to lead a dynamic growing nation?”--Guide for the Perplexed By DAVID BROOKS Published: August 20, 2012

Well, I guess we ask them to give out public details on their plan to prevent us from going broke. I do not think they will. All they want is more taxes from the ‘rich’ that will give us only $5-7 bln  each year against a $1300 bln spending deficit that is driving us broke.
See, I thought there was something interesting in this article. Our Babbler has stated a case for the opposition, perhaps unknowingly, as the discussion of the ‘details’ is always what Democrats fear most when they must provide them.  The corollary to this is political suicide as they have no plan except to bawl and spend and raise taxes.

David Brooks must have unconsciously opened a can of poison for the Democrats.  I am mildly perplexed by that action. I might have missed something.

Comments: ryckki@gmail.com


[2] The Babbling Brooks of the NYT Babbles about Decision Making [?!] and Perception?

The Babbling Brooks of the NYT Babbles about Nihilism with Innovative Socialist and Nihilist Overtones.  Raise Taxes!
The Babbling Brooks of the NYT Babbles about Obama and his Failure to Have a Clear Lead Over McCain.

The Babbling Brooks of the NYT Babbles about Education.

The Babbling Brooks of the NYT Babbles about Debt and Blame but Offers No Solution.

The Babbling Brooks of the NYT Babbles about Lincoln, Mercury Pills and The Grip of Emotions. [?!]

From the Babbling Brooks: Confusion, Hokum and Fluff: Vote for Obama

Echoes from the Babbling Brooks Envision a New Conservatism. The New York Times Advises Us on Society, as Usual: Higher Taxes
Posted by rycK on Saturday, February 16, 2008 10:37:49 AM

Brooks of the New York Times Mumbles about Bugs, Independent Voters and Mechanical Liberalism Tuesday, January 08, 2008 10:36 AM

The Babbling Brooks of the NYT Babbles about Obama and his Failure to Have a Clear Lead Over McCain.

The Babbling Brooks of the NYT Babbles about Education.

Echoes from the Babbling Brooks Envision a New Conservatism. The New York Times Advises Us on Society, as Usual: Higher Taxes Posted by rycK on Saturday, February 16, 2008 10:37:49 AM

[3] In honor of that celebrated Communist stooge and liar and winner of the Pulitzer Prize for the NYT. The color RED is used in my essays in honor of Walter Duranty, a saint, if there could be one, in the Marxist Archives of Honor.
“He said that these people had to be "liquidated or melted in the hot fire of exile and labor into the proletarian mass". Duranty claimed that the Siberian labor camps were a means of giving individuals a chance to rejoin Soviet society but also said that for those who could not accept the system, "the final fate of such enemies is death." Duranty, though describing the system as cruel, says he has "no brief for or against it, nor any purpose save to try to tell the truth". He ends the article with the claim that the brutal collectivization campaign which led to the famine was motivated by the "hope or promise of a subsequent raising up" of Asian-minded masses in the Soviet Unionwhich only history could judge.”http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Duranty

[4] Guide for the Perplexed By DAVID BROOKS Published: August 20, 2012

[7] Or a paper bag to hide under.

[9] CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE Douglas W. Elmendorf, Director

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