Entry tags:
Shorter US Election
From this Canadian's perspective, this was a reflection of:
What they arguably ought to do, in light of all that, is shrink their military, and their territorial reach, heavily, and use the money saved to stabilize finances and shift spending to badly-needed internal stimuli and programmes which would lower their Gini Index. (They'd need to offset the unemployment bulge which would result from fewer soldiers, as well, but that's part of "internal stimuli".)
Oink, oink, flap, flap.
The Tea Partiers came in on a lower taxes / reduced government agenda with a push for immediate action. What will happen instead is higher taxes (the Bush tax cuts expire and deadlock will prevent their extension) and deadlock guaranteeing no major legislative changes over the next two years. Other economies are recovering faster than the US and continue to expand their markets. Afghanistan will continue to be a sinkhole, without even beginning to factor in domestic politics and international diplomatic issues around Iran.
Look for a seriously dysfunctional political dynamic over the next couple of years -- with tensions tearing the Republicans between populists and the wealthy establishment, and Democrats pulled between centrists and progressives, and all-out war between the two parties.
- A declining imperial power, with
- Structural debt problems, and
- A high structural unemployment rate and
- A still overpriced currency, coupled with
- an entrenched system which is designed to check dramatic change by means of checks and balances.
What they arguably ought to do, in light of all that, is shrink their military, and their territorial reach, heavily, and use the money saved to stabilize finances and shift spending to badly-needed internal stimuli and programmes which would lower their Gini Index. (They'd need to offset the unemployment bulge which would result from fewer soldiers, as well, but that's part of "internal stimuli".)
Oink, oink, flap, flap.
The Tea Partiers came in on a lower taxes / reduced government agenda with a push for immediate action. What will happen instead is higher taxes (the Bush tax cuts expire and deadlock will prevent their extension) and deadlock guaranteeing no major legislative changes over the next two years. Other economies are recovering faster than the US and continue to expand their markets. Afghanistan will continue to be a sinkhole, without even beginning to factor in domestic politics and international diplomatic issues around Iran.
Look for a seriously dysfunctional political dynamic over the next couple of years -- with tensions tearing the Republicans between populists and the wealthy establishment, and Democrats pulled between centrists and progressives, and all-out war between the two parties.