It doesn’t matter what Jared Bernstein says. It doesn’t matter what Paul Krugman says. Or the president. They aren’t listening. They are not going to listen. They are going to crash the car into the ditch. And, you know, like it or not, we’re all in the car.
Some of them believe their own bullshit about supply-side economics. Most of the rest are well-paid to pretend they believe it. A small remainder know better but are afraid to counter the party’s position.
We can use all the statistics in the world, appeal to every historical parallel, bring out every expert, cite every non-partisan study, and it isn’t going to matter. We will not convince them that their way lies destruction.
And there is no stopping them. When Reagan’s tax cuts ballooned the deficit, they forgot it happened. When Poppy’s tax hike fixed the problem, they were happy to see him go. The success of Bill Clinton’s economic recovery act did not impress them. They learned nothing from Dubya’s destruction of the global economy. They didn’t change their beliefs or behavior after getting drubbed two straight times in 2006 and 2008. They just doubled-down on the obstruction and the propaganda and the poison, and repeated a now well-worn pattern of exploding the debt only to turn around and blame the Democrats and social programs for the deficit.
They can’t be taught through reason nor through electoral defeat. They will not argue or negotiate in good faith. Science means nothing to them. College education is suspect and institutions of higher learning are teeming with un-American disloyalists, socialists, and atheists.
Minorities and gays are eating away at the fabric of our society. Food Stamps are consuming our entire budget. The Muslims are coming to impose Shariah Law.
Do you have a solution for dealing with these people? Because, I don’t.
