"Joy and pleasure are as real as pain and sorrow and one must learn what they have to teach. . . ." -- Sean Russell, from Gatherer of Clouds

"If you're not having fun, you're not doing it right." -- Helyn D. Goldenberg

"I love you and I'm not afraid." -- Evanescence, "My Last Breath"

“If I hear ‘not allowed’ much oftener,” said Sam, “I’m going to get angry.” -- J.R.R. Tolkien, from Lord of the Rings

Sunday, November 05, 2017

Another Must-Read: The Other Con Man

I noticed years ago that Paul Ryan, the Republicans' "fiscal genius," couldn't add. At this point, I'm surprised he can walk and breathe at the same time. Paul Krugman goes after him, and it ain't pretty:

It really is amazing to watch this chaotic horror show play out at the highest levels of a great nation’s government. But I guess this is what you have to expect when you hand over the reins of power to a con man, whose whole career has been based on convincing naïve marks that he’s a brilliant deal maker, but turns out to have no idea how to actually govern.

Oh, wait — did you think I was talking about Donald Trump? I’m talking about Paul Ryan, the speaker of the House, an obvious phony who nonetheless convinced the rubes — that is, much of the news media and the political establishment — that he was a brilliant fiscal expert. What we’re witnessing now is the end of the charade, the political equivalent of what happened when graduates of Trump University tried to get some value in return for their money.

On Thursday, House Republicans unveiled a tax “reform” bill with the same good order and careful deliberation with which they unveiled their various attempts to repeal Obamacare. That is, after having had years to prepare, the G.O.P. waited until the last minute to throw something together, without any hearings or serious analysis.

It's been a while since the Republicans have been capable of drafting any intelligible legislation -- they've gotten to used to having outfits like ALEC and the Heritage Foundation do it for them. (Of course there's the fact that the ten stupidest members of Congress are all Republicans.) And I can't confess to any surprise that they'd try to ram through a budget with no hearings, no discussion, no analysis, despite the fact that the number don't add up. It's giving their owners what they want, so why the need for any transparency?

And Ryan's role in all this is key.

Footnote: Just to give you an idea of how slipshod, if not downright delusional, the GOP's "budget" is, get this:

On Thursday, House Republicans issued a fact sheet about their new tax cut plan that referred to Americans earning $450,000 a year as “low- and middle-income” — even though that income level would put those taxpayers in the top 0.05% of all individual Americans.

Median household income in the U.S. is $59,039.

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