Recession is okay for the elites

[dano]

Just a thought -- if we're barreling down the pike so inevitably toward
crashing into the debt ceiling, and the Great Recession Take Two that would
result, who does this benefit?

Other than the politicians who think they will benefit personally, who
benefits from the policy of recession?

The Koch Brothers (and their ilk -- let me use them as a proxy for all of
them), that's who.

Oh sure, they might lose a chunk of their net worth. Forbes put it
recently at $34 billion apiece:

http://www.forbes.com/billionaires/#page:1_sort:0_direction:asc_search:_filter:All%20industries_filter:All%20countries_filter:All%20states

How much could they lose in a recession? Let's put it at $14 billion, just
to make a nice round number (that comes to about 41% loss), leaving them
with $20 billion apiece.

Is there really anything they can't do in their personal lives with $20
billion that they could do with $34 billion?

They. Will. Be. Just. Fine.

But another massive recession would just stomp down on everyone below the
0.01% like it did over the last few years.

It stomps the lower class down into abject poverty.
It stomps the middle class down into the lower class.
It stomps the well-to-do down into the middle class.

And it makes *everybody* unsure about the future. Gasping for air. Afraid
of what more might be in store. Just trying to make ends meet, no time for
luxuries like political activism.

It further increases the wealth disparity in the country. It turns us into
a banana republic. This was Harry Reid's recent term for their reps in
Congress: Banana Republicans.

They want to be the puppet masters, and their puppets in Congress are happy
to do their bidding, in return for the illusion of power (the politicians
don't really have the power, they are just taking marching orders from the
power of the purse -- where do you think this concept applied to
legislation comes from? -- it comes from the private sector).


Obama will not play that game anymore, and with good reason -- it upsets
the constitutional balance of power in practical terms. (Kochs want this
too: they can't necessarily control a popularly elected individual, but if
they can wag the congressional dog from the individual state level, and
Congress can wag the executive dog, they can wag the whole government dog.
They've already got the majority on SCOTUS, for now and for awhile, as long
as Scalia and Thomas stay healthy -- Roberts threw a curve ball with
upholding aspects of ACA, but he added a bit of a poison pill undermining
the range of the Commerce Clause in the process, so that wasn't a total
loss for the Kochs, short term setback in the service of long term progress
for them, and they're trying to correct the short term setback through
other means. If they have an amenable leader in the White House, it just
makes things easier, but if it doesn't matter who is in the White House,
all the better for them.)


So it really does come down to Boehner. Is he enough of a patriot to avoid
the Great Recession Take Two, by being bipartisan and going against the
puppet masters?

He could be a national hero, or he could keep his job. He may not be able
to do both, though one must think he still holds out hope for that.

This is where we put GOP unity to the test. GOP unity is now a deal with
the Devil, and it is a deal forced by the Devil himself.

Is Boehner going to go with the Devil, or is he going to go with the
country? He knows what The Right Thing is, and he knows that that is not
The Far Right Thing.

He can't have his koch and eat it too.

But he'll probably go down to the wire trying for it...