Seawytch
Information isnt Advocacy
So it's not a diagnosis from an esteemed medical journal...still
Christies stunning budget-cut hypocrisy: Pensions gutted before Super Bowl splurge
And who can forget the $6 million dollar election Christie put on just so his numbers wouldn't be affected by Corey Booker.
Selective Deficit Disorder. Such an apt description.
Christies stunning budget-cut hypocrisy: Pensions gutted before Super Bowl splurge
Cognitive dissonance is the clinical term used to describe stress that arises from holding contradictory beliefs. In politics, this term is a misnomer, because while many lawmakers, operatives and activists present oxymoronic views, many of them dont appear to feel any stress about that. When it comes to budgetary matters, such a lack of remorse translates into something even worse than cognitive dissonance something more akin to pathology. It is what Ive previously called Selective Deficit Disorder and it was hard to miss in the last few weeks.
In Washington, for instance, the disorder was on prominent display in Congresss new farm bill. Citing deficit concerns, House Republicans crafted the bill to include an $8 billion cut to the federal food stamp program. Yet, the same bill increased massive subsidies that disproportionately benefit wealthy farmers and agribusinesses. In all, the conservative American Enterprise Institute reports that under the bill, annual subsidies could increase by up to $15 billion.[...]
As a new analysis from the taxpayer watchdog group Good Jobs First documented this week, 10 states have pleaded poverty to justify draconian cuts to retiree benefits. But, as the report notes, in those same states the total annual cost of corporate subsidies, tax breaks and loopholes exceeds the total current annual pension costs. In other words, deficits are being used as a rationale to eviscerate a program that benefits middle-class workers, yet those deficits are somehow no barrier to subsidy programs that primarily benefit the corporate class.[...]
On the other side of the Hudson River, the contrast was even more pronounced. In the name of fiscal responsibility, Gov. Chris Christie, R-N.J., has cut the pensions of New Jerseys public employees and reduced education funding. Yet, he had his state cough up almost $18 million to subsidize the big game. That was in addition to the $400 million the New York Times noted New Jersey taxpayers spent to improve the Meadowlands. It was also on top of the special property tax breaks New Jersey gave the NFL.
Once again, the politicians asked their constituents to simultaneously believe there is no money to meet basic needs, but there is plenty of money to subsidize corporate profits.[...]
That double standard reflects how modern politics is not really a battle between Democrats and Republicans. It is a battle between those with lots of money and those with comparatively less. The persistence of Selective Deficit Disorder proves that the former are winning.
In Washington, for instance, the disorder was on prominent display in Congresss new farm bill. Citing deficit concerns, House Republicans crafted the bill to include an $8 billion cut to the federal food stamp program. Yet, the same bill increased massive subsidies that disproportionately benefit wealthy farmers and agribusinesses. In all, the conservative American Enterprise Institute reports that under the bill, annual subsidies could increase by up to $15 billion.[...]
As a new analysis from the taxpayer watchdog group Good Jobs First documented this week, 10 states have pleaded poverty to justify draconian cuts to retiree benefits. But, as the report notes, in those same states the total annual cost of corporate subsidies, tax breaks and loopholes exceeds the total current annual pension costs. In other words, deficits are being used as a rationale to eviscerate a program that benefits middle-class workers, yet those deficits are somehow no barrier to subsidy programs that primarily benefit the corporate class.[...]
On the other side of the Hudson River, the contrast was even more pronounced. In the name of fiscal responsibility, Gov. Chris Christie, R-N.J., has cut the pensions of New Jerseys public employees and reduced education funding. Yet, he had his state cough up almost $18 million to subsidize the big game. That was in addition to the $400 million the New York Times noted New Jersey taxpayers spent to improve the Meadowlands. It was also on top of the special property tax breaks New Jersey gave the NFL.
Once again, the politicians asked their constituents to simultaneously believe there is no money to meet basic needs, but there is plenty of money to subsidize corporate profits.[...]
That double standard reflects how modern politics is not really a battle between Democrats and Republicans. It is a battle between those with lots of money and those with comparatively less. The persistence of Selective Deficit Disorder proves that the former are winning.
And who can forget the $6 million dollar election Christie put on just so his numbers wouldn't be affected by Corey Booker.
Selective Deficit Disorder. Such an apt description.
