Digby: King Henry decrees sacrifice

[seafan]

Digby is on a tear tonight.

And few people can articulate the growing rage all around us like she does.

Hank Paulson, being interviewed at Dartmouth by fellow Goldmanite Judd Gregg:

"Maybe I'm being naive, but I would like to see the fiscal deficit be the centerpiece of the campaign. Then whoever wins feels motivated to come in and solve these problems. But the electorate's gotta be educated. Because right now, you know what voters are telling Washington? "We want benefits that we don't want to pay for." And how selfish is that? Because all of you who are students here, your parents want what I want for my kids. I want them to have the same opportunity I had. And I've made great sacrifices for them to have that opportunity. But in our country, we have my generation being incredibly selfish, not willing to make a sacrifice -- and the people will pay for it is the next generation. But anyway, I think we need a mandate."

It just doesn't get any more obvious than that.

People get frightened when I use the pitchfork metaphor, so I'll restrain myself. But let's just say that it's nearly impossible to find someone who more closely fits the stereotype of the greedy aristocrat than old sacrificin' Hank in that statement. I'm sure he went right out and ate a big old piece of cake.

Sadly, he's indoctrinating young people into believing that their parents are trying to take something from them, when their parents have worked their whole lives with the expectation their children wouldn't have to take care of them when they are too old to work. Hank is telling these kids that's selfish.

He's also lying. The people he and his followers are really trying to screw are the kids, not the parents. I guess he's hoping they'll feel so virtuous and "unselfish" they won't notice.

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-8p9hOI4HIio/TXXTIwi1nyI/AAAAAAAAAR8/ds-YKHJVmlU/pitchforks+torches+mob.jpg

[JDPriestly]

1. +100000

Precisely the point. We don't want Medicare and Social Security cuts because we don't want to have to go to our children and ask them to support us.

That is why we willingly put a higher percentage of our wages into Social Security than did our parents.

The Republican administrations -- especially GWB's administration virtually stole the Social Security surplus.

This cannot stand. The financial, military and security industries should pay back the money they took from the GWB crew. It was dishonest. It was our Social Security money.

We do not want to be the first middle class generation since the Great Depression that not only cannot leave a little something, however small, for our children, but that has to beg from our kids when we are very elderly.

Social Security is, through the tax scheme, already means tested.

Don't change Social Security or Medicare. Don't touch them.