Tom Friedman: Tea Party is Wrong - Americans Want Higher Taxes and More Spending
There are times when one has to think the Manhattan building that is the home of the New York Times doesn't have any windows, doesn't have any television sets, and doesn't have any doors that allow employees to venture out and actually see what's happening in America beyond the walls of 620 Eighth Avenue.
Consider that after the impact the Tea Party has had on our nation's politics the past 20 months, and the historic elections that just took place on November 2, Times columnist Tom Friedman actually thinks Americans aren't interested in reducing the federal deficit but are instead yearning for higher taxes and greater government spending:
I believe most Americans don’t want a plan for deficit reduction. The Tea Party’s vision is narrow and uninspired. Americans want a plan to make America great again, and at some level they know that such a plan will require a hybrid politics — one that blends elements of both party’s instincts. And they will follow a president — they would even pay more taxes and give up more services — if they think he really has a plan to make America great again, not just bring him victory in 2012 by 50.1 percent.
The Tea Party's vision is uninspired? Friedman ought to get out of 620 Eighth Avenue and talk to some Democrats that'll be leaving Washington, D.C., when the new Congress gets sworn in next year.
What Americans on November 2 clearly said was uninspired are the tired and worn out policies of Obama, Pelosi, and Reid that are mortgaging the future of this nation on the backs of generations not yet having a say in how their money is being spent.
But missing this was just the beginning of Friedman's myopia for he then rattled off what he considers solutions:
We need to raise gasoline and carbon taxes to discourage their use and drive the creation of a new clean energy industry, while we cut payroll and corporate taxes to encourage employment and domestic investment. We need to cut Medicare and Social Security entitlements at the same time as we make new investments in infrastructure, schools and government-financed research programs that will spawn the next Google and Intel.
In sum, Americans need to pay more of their hard-earned dollars to a government that has shown itself to be a reckless spender while expecting less in return.
Is that really the message of the last elections? Where is this 620 Eighth Avenue, and what is the color of the sky there?
Wherever it is, it is a land where all the problems of the world are easily attributed to the usual suspects:
Yes, President Obama inherited a huge mess from the reckless Bush team. The Onion was not far off in its satirical headline at inauguration time: “Black Man Given Nation’s Worst Job.” Obama deserves much more credit than he has received for stabilizing the economy and reviving the auto industry.
But the reason he hasn’t gotten it is not just because those nasty Republicans say all those nasty things about him.
Ah, George W. Bush and those nasty Republicans. I guess that's all one can see from 620 Eighth Avenue.
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Comments
ROFL!
Submitted by Dave. on Sun, 11/28/2010 - 11:37am.
God, what an idiot Friedman is.
-Dave
Vote for the American in November
Don't be like that, Dave!
Submitted by motherbelt on Sun, 11/28/2010 - 11:49am.
You should be thankful we have smart people like Friedman around to tell us what we really want!
Because we're too dumb to know what's good for us!
Reminds me of THIS GUY (2:10) who says;
Yeah, bottom line is, we gotta determine what's best for our folks. And that's why we have a government....to make those decisions for us. You can see what my response was to that, in the first comment LOLLittle Mr. Echo
Submitted by Galvanic on Sun, 11/28/2010 - 12:50pm.
Except for his call to reduce payroll and corporate taxes, Friedman merely echoes the alibis of surviving Fringe Left Senators and Representatives who've insisted that the Democrats lost the House and 6 Senate seats because the Obama Administration and Dem-Congress hadn't taxed and spent enough.
Friedman also buys into the myth that raising taxes on energy to fund investment in green technologies will boost the economy, and therefore is the means to economic recovery.
He and others on the Left obviously ignore a comprehensive study conducted by professors in Spain's University of Toledo. Spain had undertaken the green route ten years ago through regulation and taxes, and now is on the bring of economic collapse. The study found that for every 1 job created by going 'green,' 2.2 were lost.
Of course, the Left ignores or dismisses any evidence that explodes their fantasy, so Friedman and company will continue to spew talking points sans facts.
Carbon Taxation = Chemotherapy
Submitted by BigAlSouth on Sun, 11/28/2010 - 2:01pm.
Keynesians like Friedman believe that you have to practically kill the patient with chemotherapy/taxation in order to save it.
Hey Tom. I don't have any uhber-Left buddies who can give me some meaningless tropy like a Pulitzer or Nobel to boost my bona fides so I can spout nonsense on a daily basis.
Gal, you know that the reason
Submitted by motherbelt on Sun, 11/28/2010 - 2:54pm.
Gal, you know that the reason the plan failed in Spain is because they didn't have the "right" people doing it! That's why socialism failed everywhere else too.
When the USA does it, under the direction of the smartest people in the world...the leftist elites, of course it will be a rousing success!
Unless it's not, in which case they will cite that as the reason why we need to do more!
Yep
Submitted by Galvanic on Mon, 11/29/2010 - 10:06am.
I wish I still had the exact quote, but somebody once described Marxism as the mother that always gives birth to monsters, promising that the next one will be normal.
mb,
Submitted by Dave. on Sun, 11/28/2010 - 11:45pm.
We need to face up to the fact that we exist in a nation made up of moronic sheeple.
God help us.
-Dave
Vote for the American in November
2011 DEMOCRAT PLAYBOOK
Submitted by reelman46 on Sun, 11/28/2010 - 1:04pm.
Some headlines as of November 28, 2010:
100,000+ march in Dublin over budget cuts…’Day of Reckoning’ Nears…Banks downgraded — one to junk bond status…
Portugal Denies Report on Bailout…Spain Bets on Budget Cuts…
Next Debt Crisis ‘May Start in Washington’…
Thanks dems, thanks for the 13 trillion in American debt as you cut nothing, froze nothing as “blame ducks”…
then, of course, you can call Repubs names in 2011 as they try to bring fiscal sanity back…same ole socialists.
Did I mention the socialists will scream we need new heavy taxes NOW because “its a budget crisis”? They light the fire and yell for water again. They will not scream for any freezes or cuts to the federal monster.
You will take home less money because of what they intentionally did since they took over congress in January of 2007.
America is broke…but all you will see in 2011 are distractions, lies and smears by the demo-socialist Party that maxed our VISA, borrowed megabillions from the communist Chinese, then kept on spending, kept on promising, kept on lying, kept on pretending the basic laws of economics do not exist. That is what makes modern liberalism (aka secular socialism) a mental disorder.
http://theconservativecrawfish.wordpress.com
Doug Schexnayder, Ph.D. (theconservativecrawfish<
I blame both parties
Submitted by Galvanic on Sun, 11/28/2010 - 2:45pm.
Over the years, the only serious attempts to balance the budget were when Gingrich was Speaker of the House. From 2001-2006, the GOP Congress and Bush-43 were enemies of the concept of a balanced budget.
Obama has mindlessly expanded the debt.
and everyone saw how Newt the
Submitted by motherbelt on Sun, 11/28/2010 - 2:57pm.
and everyone saw how Newt the Grinch got smacked down.
No one wants to be that villain again.
Jeez, but now we've got Tom Friedman, of all people, calling for cuts in Social Security and Medicare!
Why isn't he on every Sunday show touting his plan???
Why "of all people"?
Submitted by Jer on Sun, 11/28/2010 - 5:46pm.
Why "of all people"? Friedman is not an inhabitant of the left/progressive wing of the Democratic party. He's more Joe Lieberman.
Jer
Jer, what we have here is a
Submitted by Dan The Man 2 on Sun, 11/28/2010 - 6:39pm.
Jer, what we have here is a failure to see properly. You're wacked.
Dan...
Submitted by Jer on Sun, 11/28/2010 - 6:44pm.
How long have you been reading Friedman's columns?
Jer
Used to read a lot of columns
Submitted by Dan The Man 2 on Sun, 11/28/2010 - 11:35pm.
Used to read a lot of columns by stupid people that were published in the paper. I stopped taking the paper 15 years ago though. So I lost touch with his trash along with Ivens, Broder and others. Best thing I ever did. I stopped filling my brain with the crap they put out and I got wiser and my vision improved.
complete, total ass of an
Submitted by jkwtrading on Sun, 11/28/2010 - 2:13pm.
complete, total ass of an idiot.
I was thinking...moron, but
Submitted by msh1973 on Sun, 11/28/2010 - 5:56pm.
I was thinking...moron, but idiot will do. Hey, Tom, get out of the bubble you live in and try talking to regular people..Gaaahhhh.
By all means, Obama should spend two years running on this.
Submitted by Texndoc on Sun, 11/28/2010 - 11:39am.
Higher taxes! More spending! Higher taxes! More spending!
Carbon Taxes! Gasoline Taxes! Carbon Taxes! Gasoline Taxes!
Please please please
Not only Obama,
Submitted by motherbelt on Sun, 11/28/2010 - 11:51am.
but every Democrat who's up for re-election!
We should be so lucky!!
All this proves
Submitted by 10ksnooker on Sun, 11/28/2010 - 11:41am.
Is liberals don't have a brain. But you knew that.
From my address
Submitted by In Excess on Sun, 11/28/2010 - 11:45am.
It appears Bush stabilized the economy with Tarp in order to fix the huge mess he inherited from the democrats (Fannie & Freddie).What is he on?
Submitted by jon_torlin on Sun, 11/28/2010 - 11:45am.
He's really got to stop toking it up before writing these things.
Wow........just .......wow.
-Jon
Google and Intel
Submitted by dmaley1714 on Sun, 11/28/2010 - 11:46am.
were not started by government research grants. Tom please go live in your forced abortion paradise of command economy China
The NY Times
Submitted by iveseenitall on Sun, 11/28/2010 - 12:15pm.
With writers like Friedman, is it any wonder why they're going down the tubes.
Never,Never trust a "liberal"
All the news that's fit to omit
Submitted by Tomorama on Sun, 11/28/2010 - 11:48am.
What TexnDoc said, but spread the "disease" to the Senators running in 2012 as well, the 23 Democrats that are up.
Or will they just run AWAY from Obama like many did this time or did Friedman not read that anywhere?
Friedman probably has multiple degrees and is dumb as FU** at what real people go through..
"But everyone I know wants more taxes and doesn't care about deficit spending" so says Friedman from his Bubble world.
Is there a coordinated meme
Submitted by shannon76 on Sun, 11/28/2010 - 11:53am.
Is there a coordinated meme going out there? Between Friedman's argument, the petition by Millionaires who want the Bush tax cuts to expire, and Amanpour allowing Gates/Turner/Buffet to spout the whole 'The Rich Should Give More (and Enjoy It)', I'm wondering if we're seeing the first media battle to confront the Tea Party message. We're going to see people on the MSM claiming they love taxes, they love Big Government, and they think government spending and bloated entitlements are a wonderful thing.
Can't wait for the next CNN special: "What's so wrong with socialism anyway?? (Not that we're in favor of it, just sayin')"
"The rich should give more"
Submitted by sarge329 on Sun, 11/28/2010 - 4:43pm.
If they mean it, then Gates/Buffet'Turner should lead by example and " give more and enjoy it " . After that, the Obamas should follow suit.
I can see it now...
Submitted by jimbo297 on Mon, 11/29/2010 - 4:37pm.
...Living with Socialism-A "Black in America" special event. Have to pigeon-hole the Obama voters, after all.
Tax gasoline so we use less? Remember two years ago? Gas was 4.50 a gallon and companies were going broke, since they had to pay for it-no choice, no alternative-just PAY. All that a tax increase on gas will do is slow the economy down. More lost jobs, more mortgage defaults, less consumer and business spending...
I only have a four-year college degree, but if I can figure this out on my own...
Know what? I take back my comment there. We can tax gas as high as we want! However, first we need to start domestic oil drilling and build say, about 50-100 more refineries in the US. The price of gas will go down to about 25 cents a gallon and the govt can slap on 2.50 a gallon in taxes. Problem solved!
Now to work on the carbon tax...what the f**k is a "carbon tax"????
The GOP isn't innocent in all of this....
Submitted by Zero-Niner-Zero on Sun, 11/28/2010 - 11:53am.
The thing I came back from CPAC with wasn't the thrill of actually seeing people whom I had only heard of, or listening to what they said, but watching the schism between the Tea Party and the GOP explode into almost open hostility in the hallways of CPAC.
Sure there was that shouting match involving Britebart that I nonchalantly walked through the middle of without noticing (hey, survive Planet UMass and you really don't notice things as calm as that) -- but the true conflict was far quieter and much more interesting to watch. Like a hurricane that hasn't yet formed, I coudl see the Tea Party just starting to congeal into what it is now, things which have come together to form something that otherwise wouldn't exist.
We can blame the Dems all we want to but the simple fact remains that GWB and the GOP establishment are every bit as much part of the problem, the allegedly conservative media every bit as myopic, and we are on the cusp of a populist wave (NOT PROGRESSIVE!) that we haven't seen in at least 80 years -- quite possibly haven't seen since the Jacksonian Democracy.
The so-called Populist-Progressive Era and even the larger era from 1865 to 1941 (end of Civil War to Start of WW-II) is hard to teach even for those teachers who understand US History and don't have a leftist bias -- which are damn few -- and thus the significance of things like the Granger Movement and the conflict between the DAR (Daughters of the American Revolution) and the GAR (Grand Army of the Republic) are lost in talk of the Progressives.
History is repeating itself -- and maybe we need to do what Jackson essentially did -- fire absolutely everyone who worked for the Federal Governemnt and replace them with someone new.. And this means new Republicans too....
I hear that rant
Submitted by Blonde on Sun, 11/28/2010 - 12:07pm.
The election of 2010 was just the beginning.
We need to continue to primary the RINO's (I truly hope Alaska's courts kick that won't-stay-fired twit Murkowski)....and replace them *ahem, bye bye Charlie, hellow Marco Rubio* with conservatives.
Of course the old school GOP'ers aren't going to let go the reins of power easily, we're going to have to beat them around the head, continuously, until they see things our way, or get run off.
I started a forum the day after the election on who's next on our target list. The Senate in 2012 is going to be a target rich environment for the Tea Party. Twice as many dems as republicans are up.
The media, of course, are going to do their best to obfuscate the meaning of the recent Tea Party win....look at the nonsense being bandied about here on this very thread.
We can't even take a breather, time to push!
Handy Reference Guide to Obama's Gaffes and Goofs ~ Currently Numbering 200 (and Counting)
We need to continue to
Submitted by Newsbusterbrown on Sun, 11/28/2010 - 1:04pm.
We need to continue to primary the RINO's (I truly hope Alaska's courts kick that won't-stay-fired twit Murkowski)....and replace them *ahem, bye bye Charlie, hellow Marco Rubio* with conservatives.
We need to always keep every elected Republicans' feet to the fire during the primaries. We can't just stay home on election day or vote third party either - we need to fully reclaim the GOP as the one and only conservative party if we want to transform the country back to its roots.
“There are no easy answers, but there are simple answers. We must have the courage to do what we know is morally right.” - Ronald Reagan (1964 Republican Convention)
That might happen . . .
Submitted by Galvanic on Sun, 11/28/2010 - 3:00pm.
. . . but I think the newly-elected "Tea Party" GOPers have to be observed first. They may change the Party, or they may be changed by it.
Both major parties are corrupted beyond salvagability, IMHO. Neither is worth saving.
The real potential in the Tea Party movement is becoming an actual Third Party that focuses on the greatest threat to our Nation -- insurmountable debt and Big Government. It won't happen overnight, but it will be excelerated if (when?) the GOP fails to deliver as they themselves have admitted doing in the Bush-43 years.
The promise of the Tea Party movement isn't the salvation of the crooked GOP, but the genesis of a new American political paradigm.
We don't have time for
Submitted by Newsbusterbrown on Sun, 11/28/2010 - 3:13pm.
We don't have time for another party to replace the GOP as the conservative stanard bearer. All that would do is split the party so the Democrats can finish destroying the country. I don't know abou you, but that's a terrible proposition.
No, the only way we can stop the bleeding quickly is to hold the GOP accountable today, tmorrow and forever via the primary process. Any elected representive that starts to drift to the liberal/progressive way of thinking needs to replaced with someone who will stick to conservative principles. That's the only way, IMO.
“There are no easy answers, but there are simple answers. We must have the courage to do what we know is morally right.” - Ronald Reagan (1964 Republican Convention)
Yes we do, from WITHIN the
Submitted by NL207 on Sun, 11/28/2010 - 3:25pm.
Yes we do, from WITHIN the existing Republican party. Primary the RINOs out of control. populate the local comittees with TEA party activists and start ousting the RINOs from unelected leadership positions. The TEA Party can literally remake the Republican Party from within and do it without letting the Democrats run roughshod over the opposition..
Totally agree, NL207.
Submitted by Newsbusterbrown on Sun, 11/28/2010 - 3:57pm.
Totally agree, NL207.
“There are no easy answers, but there are simple answers. We must have the courage to do what we know is morally right.” - Ronald Reagan (1964 Republican Convention)
Right there with ya, Blonde.
Submitted by msh1973 on Sun, 11/28/2010 - 6:00pm.
Right there with ya, Blonde.
Exactly, msh
Submitted by Blonde on Sun, 11/28/2010 - 6:03pm.
One down, one to go here in Florida. Once we're rid of Bill Nelson, I'll be a whole lot happer.
Handy Reference Guide to Obama's Gaffes and Goofs ~ Currently Numbering 200 (and Counting)
Yep...any idea who that might
Submitted by msh1973 on Sun, 11/28/2010 - 8:05pm.
Yep...any idea who that might be..perhaps Jeb?
Yeah, Tom, you've got it right
Submitted by Scout Finch on Sun, 11/28/2010 - 11:56am.
The vast majority of Americans would love to pay more for gasoline to discourage using it. That sure is an idea I can get behind. /s
But you have to realize that
Submitted by motherbelt on Sun, 11/28/2010 - 12:08pm.
But you have to realize that the new gas taxes will go into devoloping "green energy."
You know, just like all those gas taxes we've paid until now have gone into maintaining our roads and bridges!
And as for cutting back SS and Medicare, yeah, I'm sure senior citizens will gladly do without so that the government can fund research for a new Google and Intel!!
<Chris Matthews imitation> HA!
Or how smoking cigs
Submitted by Boudin on Sun, 11/28/2010 - 12:46pm.
Provides Health Care for the kids.
Friedman and friends
Submitted by kch50428 on Sun, 11/28/2010 - 12:03pm.
Are looking out at the world through the peep-hole that replaced their belly buttons. Because their heads are up their wazoo apertures. Clueless bastards all.NS
Submitted by Blonde on Sun, 11/28/2010 - 12:09pm.
Do you think Friedman actually believes this nonsense, or is he merely writing it to appease his liberal audience?
Because as far as I can tell, only a liberal would buy such a nonsensical argument. It's laughable, truly.
Handy Reference Guide to Obama's Gaffes and Goofs ~ Currently Numbering 200 (and Counting)
Thanks Tom
Submitted by RESTLESS 1 on Sun, 11/28/2010 - 12:14pm.
I didn't realise that's what I want until you told me. I feel so much freer to now. /Sarc
Dumbass.
What would make "America great again...."
Submitted by tomchris on Sun, 11/28/2010 - 12:22pm.
is the demise of the New York Times. Oh, my bad, that's already happened.
It's time for someone -
Submitted by Van Halen on Sun, 11/28/2010 - 12:37pm.
It's time for someone - perhaps this site to organize and start publicly asking these Liberal clowns (Friedman, Krugman, et al), who cheer tax increases if THEY will be voluntarily sending double or more of the taxes asked of them and then demanding they show us proof.
Could NewsBusters do this?
Perfect
Submitted by Ogundipe S.O. on Sun, 11/28/2010 - 1:37pm.
I would love to see someone do this, maybe Griff Jenkins? the general assignment reporter for Fox News. John Stossel would be the best but I don't think he could waste his time documenting such.John Kerry provides some insight here
Submitted by needle on Sun, 11/28/2010 - 9:52pm.
BTW, John has yet to pay his yatch tax.
- Looking forward to the self-annihilation of the Manipulated Stories Machine.
Surprised no one sees.......
Submitted by BBallleaper on Sun, 11/28/2010 - 12:39pm.
Read between the lines. This guy is absolutely petrified of Sarah Palin in the White House. Brown underwear alert!!
Put their money where their mouths are?
Submitted by Newsbubba on Sun, 11/28/2010 - 1:02pm.
I'll be impressed when I see all of these "progressives" pay the IRS double what they owe at the end of the year. That of course means double what they ACTUALLY owe, not some number computed using the Timmy-Charlie Turbo Tax system.
Nothing in our IRS code prevents an individual form paying MORE than the owe, so step up loudmouths, and pay up, you hypocritical tightwads.
The last time I looked you were all trying to screw the "people" out of taxes by computing your taxes wrong, and just plain lying on your returns. I especially loved John Boy moving his mega-boat to a cheaper tax state so that he could screw the people of his home state out of several hundred thousand in taxes.
Hell, if liberals just paid what the hell they owed, we could erase the deficit.
Last I read, Bubba
Submitted by Blonde on Sun, 11/28/2010 - 3:03pm.
He still hadn't paid up, even after he promised to.
He's such a lyin' hypocrite, John Kerry. I can't stand his smug Lurch face.
Just because I enjoy seeing him look like an idiot, I just have to post John Kerry, Giant Condom. And of course, the ever popular John Kerry in Iraq, after his famous statement.....and finally, our spectacular troops' response.
Handy Reference Guide to Obama's Gaffes and Goofs ~ Currently Numbering 200 (and Counting)
I hope that when Kerry runs
Submitted by Seashell on Sun, 11/28/2010 - 3:57pm.
I hope that when Kerry runs again that his opponent has a field day with this (the boat).
Kerry wants to raise taxes on everyone else, but when it comes to his shoveling out his own dough, he lies and cheats to keep from doing it. What a complete lyin', cheatin', sorry excuse for a senator, horsefaced douchebag!
Intel? Google?
Submitted by Joe W. on Sun, 11/28/2010 - 1:18pm.
Wow. You learn something new everyday...I didn't know that government "spawned" Intel & Google. Did they create Microsoft and Wal-Mart as well??
Costly idea from Friedman
Submitted by Ogundipe S.O. on Sun, 11/28/2010 - 1:33pm.
How could someone write so boldly about debt??, if you don't care about debt/deficit, then you might as well kiss your freedom goodbye and be read submit yourself for slavery
There's nothing the Government give the citizens that has not already being taken from the citizenry.
Sir'Mo.
Why don't we close a few Dep'ts of This and That, Tom?
Submitted by Red Jeep on Sun, 11/28/2010 - 1:44pm.
I have been hearing, unbelievably,that the TSA has 70,000 employees. (GM, in contrast, has about 68,000). Let's shut that down. Tremendous savings. Let the airlines provide their own security.
Let's close the Education Dep't. Doesn't seem to have improved anything and shutter the Dep't of Energy too, Tom.
Oh, and Tom, speaking of energy, we want to drill everywhere there is oil, here in the U. S. to eliminate our dependence on foreign oil, which could eliminate a few wars that you libs hate. We also want to use coal for gas too.
That's a few ideas for now Tom to reduce spending and avoid higher taxes, gotta run, bye, bye!
PS There are 2,748,978 civilian federal employees. That has got to be reduced.
Good going Tom. No sense in
Submitted by Barack_must_go..... on Sun, 11/28/2010 - 1:41pm.
Good going Tom. No sense in being a self-important douchebag like yourself if your not going to flaunt it once in a while.
The one and only New York Times, way out ahead of itself, yet always behind the times.
Barack_Must_Go.....
At least now we know what the
Submitted by Ashrak on Sun, 11/28/2010 - 1:48pm.
At least now we know what the NYT views as their toughest competition, which explains the content that just doesn't make any sense.
The Onion.
What is fair?
Submitted by SnapTie on Sun, 11/28/2010 - 1:49pm.
As a business owner i already pay 50% of my income in taxes. 35% federal,12.60%SS,4.5%state. Then add in sales,gas,property,utility and the list can go on and on.How much is enough?
Sounds like a sole proprietorship, Time to become a C corp.
Submitted by upcountrywater on Sun, 11/28/2010 - 2:58pm.
The same thing happened to me years ago, the taxes equaled the saving/profits of that year. So I became a C corp., sub S is a joke, now.
You Didn't Build That.
Well, that's what you get for
Submitted by killa37 on Sun, 11/28/2010 - 3:01pm.
Well, that's what you get for being an evil capitalist trying to make an evil profit!!!! And why is my SS/Medicare burden closer to 15%?? Are you cheating the government??? And Hawaii state tax is closer to 8%!!
I think Fried-Mind is talking about all of the people who DON'T pay taxes and ARE the beneficiary of government spending................in otherwords, people who want the goverenment to run their lives on a day to day basis.
A Natural Progression (Pun Intended)
Submitted by rammingspeed on Sun, 11/28/2010 - 1:51pm.
"Progressives" have been sealed in a tomb of leftist dogma. There's no way in, and no way out. That's the power of propaganda, when allowed to focus sharply and narrowly. The subject doesn't matter, it's the mindset of the victims. Their beliefs are absolute, virtually as fundamental as the need to breathe, and panic sets in when they crumble. Rationalization takes over. The victims fail more and more over time, and their leaders speak out in stupefyingly stupid ways. They have no idea they're so far off track; they're trying to breathe!
"Progressives" get away with it in America, because in this land of relative abundance, they can be multimillionaires and pay no consequences for their mistaken beliefs about the economy. They can at least get jobs and make a reasonable living, and avoid the catastrophic conditions their policies would create. But give them true power - the power to make laws that force people to live the way "progressives" want - and the revolution instantly begins. People won't put up with that sh*t. It's the awakening a sleeping giant thing. Klein will cry and be depressed and never think things through. Therefore, he will deserve his pain.
The mental disorder
Submitted by bobwhite on Sun, 11/28/2010 - 1:52pm.
The mental disorder that is Liberalism is deepening for this Friedman character.
A nice Gucci straightjacket would make a wonderful, and much needed, Christmas gift for him.
Who pays? Who doesn't?
Submitted by cajun2 on Sun, 11/28/2010 - 2:05pm.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/09/AR2010090903376.html
Sure Americans want to pay more taxes, more govt. But thats just us ordinary folks. Those elitist in DC, congress, the White House, and oh yeah, the IRS, dont believe they have to pay their taxes.
Believe nothing from the liberal lying media.
You're right Cajun
Submitted by Seashell on Sun, 11/28/2010 - 6:32pm.
Democrats are just liars! They are supposed to be the party who cares about poor people. Who do they think it's going to affect if they raise gas prices? Do you think that Tom Freidman is going to curtail his travel plans due to higher gas taxes/prices? No, he'll still go wherever he wants to along with all the other rich people. It's the poor who will suffer. They don't care about the poor unless it fits their agenda.
ADD
Submitted by TheHistorian on Sun, 11/28/2010 - 2:08pm.
A Delusional Democrat.
Dennis Prager
Friedman is not delusional.
Submitted by NL207 on Sun, 11/28/2010 - 2:21pm.
He is talking the party points. Now that the House is solidly in Republican hands, the Democrats must find ways to coerce enough of the Republicans into the Big Government fold as to gain a voting majority for the essentials of their spending plans. Friedman is just laying political groundwork for this effort. I cannpot help but believe there is another, new, JournoList somewhere that coordinates these attacks.
Watch this partisan hack late next year as he rants and raves about Republican obstructions to real progress.
I'm sure you're correct about another JournoList
Submitted by Blonde on Sun, 11/28/2010 - 3:11pm.
The daily themes, memes, and actual phraseology are just too identical for it to be a coinky-dink.
They're now trying to shift the election anger from "get the hell out, you miserable, lying idiots" (after they ramrodded through their agenda) to "the voters want us to work together".
Hogwash! I don't want any more aisle-crossing, happy talk. I want the Republican House to rip the heart out of the democrat budget and programs. Every single one of them. Starting with DOE, NPR, and particularly all of Obama's unconfirmed Czars, and their staffs.
If we can hold on in the Senate until 2012, we should be able to continue the purge of the RINO's and the unseating of the democrats. 2012 may be a huge year....but we have to keep working.
P.S., NL. Thanks for financially supporting Marco and Allen. I really appreciate it.
Handy Reference Guide to Obama's Gaffes and Goofs ~ Currently Numbering 200 (and Counting)
What Planet does this guy live on?
Submitted by Delsa on Sun, 11/28/2010 - 2:34pm.
I'd like to say one thing before I speak to the deranged crap I just read.
There is NO T. E. A. "Party"! There are, howerver, Americans from every walk of life, who have started to speak out all over this country against the un American turn this Country and those in leadership rolls have taken us.
I am a CONSERVATIVE Republican NOT a member os a socalled TEA "Party" and am really beginnning to get annoyed being lumped in with some immaginary movement. I believe those Americans who love this country have simply started to wake up and I hope it is not too late?
Friedman speaks for the millions of Socialists in this country who actually believe in The Lip aka SOBama and his policies.
Those who think like Friedman and The Lip are a virus, infecting our young in the public, ie Government run, school systems and beyond. The American people act like they don't know how someone like The Lip could be elected? Open your eyes! You have willingly given them your children to be schooled in "group think" and political correctness. NO individualism taught here is the unsung motto of Union run teachers.
No child today does anything outside of a "group". While in Government schools students work and study in "groups" and that is why they can't perform on their own.It is NO accident!
We who visit NewsBusters can't understand how someone like Friedman even has an audience but he does and their numbers rise.
My advice is for Friedman yahoo to keep talking and writing. Maybe his sick twisted followers will come to see the error of their ways?? I doubt it.
BTW, Did anyone see photos of The Lip watching B ball with his daughters while Korea burns?
We are in deep cow pies!
More gov't spending infers bigger gov't, Mr. Friedman.. polls
Submitted by Gary Hall on Sun, 11/28/2010 - 3:08pm.
More gov't spending infers bigger gov't, Mr. Friedman. Recent polling, however, suggests that the folks out here [that you won't see or hear] want a smaller government with less government services - and that implies less government spending:
USA Today/Gallup Poll. "Some people think the government is trying to do too many things that should be left to individuals and businesses. Others think that government should do more to solve our country's problems. Which comes closer to your own view?"
•Tying to do too much - 53%
•Should do more - 39%
ABC News/Washington Post Poll -"Generally speaking, would you say you favor smaller government with fewer services, or larger government with more services?"
•Smaller - 58%
•Larger - 38%
.. and a Sept 2010 CBS News/New York Times poll. No surprise that:
•53 percent -- want a smaller government with fewer services.
•34% percent favored a bigger government with more services.
I believe, Tom Friedman, that you don't know squat about most Americans. In a national election, Tom, those spreads make for a landslide in public opinion.
(;~/ gary
Well, there's your problem
Submitted by CobraMan on Sun, 11/28/2010 - 3:29pm.
"I believe most Americans don’t want a plan for deficit reduction."
The problem with that belief, Tom, is that it's delusional.
The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States. The US Constitution
Unless you're a fetus. The US Supreme Court
Or Anwar al-Awlaki.
By his account I'm not an American.
Submitted by Crash on Sun, 11/28/2010 - 3:42pm.
Does Friedman's assessment mean that I can opt out of paying taxes and spend more of my own hard earned money?
This is the same Friedman guy . . .
Submitted by Benjamin on Sun, 11/28/2010 - 3:45pm.
who recently wished that we could temporarily have the Communist Chinese political system, so that economy-killing climate change legislation could be rammed through against the wishes of the American people.
He speaks of American greatness - but everything he says displays contempt for free market capitalism, the system that MADE us great.
Friedman Is Dead Wrong - We Want Lower Taxes & Less Spending!
Submitted by hoodad500 on Sun, 11/28/2010 - 5:14pm.
How do I know I'm right and Tom Friedman is wrong? Easy, whenever Tom disagrees with me and my real American neighbors, then that's all the proof I need that I'm right. He does provide a vital service to those of us who don't live on the coasts; he's my bellweather. However he opines and preaches, I simply believe just the opposite. Thanks Tom, you validate me and millions of others on a daily basis.
Of course, Friedman being dead wrong is nothing new. He has no clue what real, everyday Americans really want because he never stis down and toalks to any of us. He spends too much time reading his own material and listening to bi-coastal big taxers and big spenders who never have enough of either, especially when it's our money they want to re-distribute.
Here's an idea, Tom. In order for you to learn more about how real Americans feel about the drivel you try to peddle, I have a place for you to set up shop. And you don't even have to leave New York to do it. Try a real job for 2-3 weeks. Sow some real American courage and grit by for a living for a change. Spending a few weeks working on the new World Trade Center buildings with the construction crews. While you're there, have the courage to sell your package of more taxes and more government spending to them. Sit down on a steel girder, open your lunch box, and encourage your new fellow workers to support your crazy thinking. It will be 2-3 weeks of the best education you'll ever receive, and it won't come the the jaded lips of some ivory tower academic, either. It will come from real Americans who are proud they have to work hard for a living. They build things, unlike you who sit behind your word processor and tear America down. Man up, Tom!
So...How is the NYT circulation doing, Tom?
Submitted by Tenebrous on Sun, 11/28/2010 - 5:36pm.
Tom is the Baghdad Bob of the NYT. Circulation goes into free fall and he keeps arguing that what we need is more of the same. Keep at it Tom. You'd be burned in effigy if only more people knew who you were.
Visions and Principles blog
Pulse of the Nation
Submitted by Jerry Mack on Sun, 11/28/2010 - 7:55pm.
Good ol Tom has been listening to Gates, Buffet and Turner. Now he is positive of how taxpayers feel about the government, taxes and the deficit. Why pay attenton to that TEA Party rif-raf?
"Exhibit A"
Submitted by Chris Norman on Mon, 11/29/2010 - 9:50am.
Thomas Friedman is perhaps the best person one could watch if trying to find the perfect example of a liberal self-deluded elitist. Everything that comes out of his mouth is so smugly superior it makes one want to hit him in the face with a coconut cream pie. You just know that he thinks that he and his ilk are the enlightened intellectuals who should rule over the rest of us slobs.
Stockholm syndrome
Submitted by drydino on Sun, 11/28/2010 - 8:36pm.
The only thing that explains this idiotic position is Stockholm syndrome
*facepalm*
Submitted by wiwf on Mon, 11/29/2010 - 9:56am.
*facepalm*Tell me!!!
Submitted by Patriot II on Mon, 11/29/2010 - 11:19am.
Who let this IDIOT out of his box???
Once again, Friedman nails it.
Submitted by Jer on Mon, 11/29/2010 - 12:00pm.
Once again, Friedman nails it. A dual track approach--combining targeted tax cuts and niche revenue increases with reductions in burgeoning entitlement spending counterbalanced by infrastructure investment--is precisely the formula which the nation needs and the majority of Americans will support if it can be presented honestly and sensibly without the customary demagoguery which inevitably inflames rather than constructively informs public perceptions. But never has an "if" loomed so large over a political landscape currently being--as it for some time has been--relentlessly buffeted by partisan winds so strong that calm discourse has given way to barely intelligible bluster.
Americans are not "yearning" for higher taxes and more spending, nor does Friedman claim such to be the case. He does suggest that they will accept both if properly designed and structured, and if they are convinced the eventual payoff will justify the sacrifice--that the game is worth the candle--which means a restoration of this country to a former greatness sensed to have been inexorably slipping away in recent years.
It will require the present administration to be more amenable to ideas advanced by the opposition party [that's what Friedman surely has in mind when he refers to "nasty Republicans saying nasty things": It is actually implicit criticism of Obama's penchant for blaming his waning popularity on bad PR rather than ill-conceived and poorly implemented policy]. But it will also require Republicans to be less invested in the failure of the president and more focused on the best interests of the nation.
It is not merely coincidental that the decline in bi-partisan co-operation has closely tracked the decline in American ascendancy. The reversal of the latter is likewise dependent upon a reversal of the former. Good luck.
Jer
Targeted tax cuts is code for
Submitted by Dan The Man 2 on Mon, 11/29/2010 - 12:32pm.
Targeted tax cuts is code for help the liberal causes and ear marks. Screw targeted cuts because I am never teh target.
And good luck to you, sir...
Submitted by jimbo297 on Mon, 11/29/2010 - 4:49pm.
...with your mental gymnastics. The former greatness that inexorably slipped away did so upon the realization that a majority of Americans could throw their vote in the trash can and feel so darn good and hopeful about it.
The way out of this mess will never be to increase taxes, be it on gasoline or made up numbers like carbon footprints. The way out is to reduce government spending. Tom's argument of more taxation cannot be presented sensibly and honestly, because the current tax system makes very little sense and is inherently dishonest.
"Implicit criticism of Obama's penchant"---
Submitted by matthewdean on Mon, 11/29/2010 - 5:01pm.
Never heard it called that before.
MD
"The reversal of the latter is likewise dependent upon a
Submitted by SickofLibs on Mon, 11/29/2010 - 5:18pm.
reversal of the former."
Pass the dramamine, please.
Touche`, SoL...
Submitted by Jer on Tue, 11/30/2010 - 5:02am.
Touche`, SoL...
I'm even making myself sick overdoing the "latter" and "former" rhetoric lately. I'm at least cutting back on the former and perhaps the latter as well.
Jer