"Let the Market Decide!" The Mantra Monster Lives On

If you’ve had even the most mundane, cliché political discussion (which is not hard to experience) with a conservative or heard just 5 minutes, on a few separate occasions, of conservative dogma on cable news and radio, you’ve likely heard the mantra, “let the market decide!”

If there’s one thing missing from traditional conservative arguments it’s empirical evidence and data. It’s exactly this void that is filled with general statements that brush aside elaborate details and concrete proof, and it disturbs me to see this mantra monster take shape while our leaders debate the deficit and gutless Democrats feign strength by hinting that they might not agree to the entire 38 billion in cuts, instead of taking the logical route in asking why we should cut anything from the budget at all?

In December of last year, President Obama, Democratic leaders and especially Republicans had the chance to prevent $700 billion from being racked up on top of our national debt over the next ten years. What I am referring to is the tax cuts for the wealthiest 1% that was scheduled to expire, but didn’t because of the cowardice--and servitude to all beings wealthy--of all parties involved.

Now, just 4 months later, fact-based news outlets like NPR and stigmatically framed “public” programming channels like PBS--which by some accounts are not even overtly liberal safe havens—(see Ralph Nader’s “PBS-NPR-Leaning Right”) face large cuts (NPR faces the potential for all federal funding to halt), as did Planned Parenthood, until the deal reached over the weekend between Republican & Democratic leaders excluded that from the proposal, resulting in 38 billion in cuts, well…elsewhere. From the NY Times:

“Speaking from the White House after the Republican meeting ended, Mr. Obama said that both sides gave ground in reaching the bargain and that some of the cuts accepted by Democrats ‘will be painful.’ ‘Programs people rely on will be cut back,’ said Mr. Obama, who said Americans had to begin to live within their means.”

 With millions of unemployed and underemployed Americans, what means is he referring to? If America is facing such a colossal budget crisis, why are the poor and middle class America being asked to live within their means when a simple commitment to an expiration date on tax cuts for the richest Americans--men and women who individually live far beyond the means of hundreds of average citizens combined—would have cut nearly 20 times more than the amount that the two parties have reluctantly agreed upon? This is madness! It’s deceitful, dishonest and completely cynical of both President Obama and our Congressional leadership to have first, had this debate, and second, to have agreed to some semblance of terms. Welcome to Pluto (read: plutocracy)! American leadership knows the general population doesn’t pay attention, is only technically literate, and far too busy with their own lives and evening entertainment rituals to even ponder, let alone identify this hypocrisy and inconsistency.

“Let the market decide!” It has, it does, and it will continue to do so until we all say “no.” Until enough partisans from both parties vote outside of the establishment, our leaders have no reason to stop betraying and misleading us. Until Tea Party activists realize a Tea Party “candidate” is still a Republican leader, they’re all just kidding themselves into believing they successfully altered the establishment’s political system. After all, a country that belittles authentic third parties and independent candidacies exposes its weakness in mandating policy changes when pretending to create something new, rather than progressing toward the viability of a legitimate alternative. If you haven’t already begun that progression, it’s about time you did so.