Reaching The Bottom Of The Hate Barrel

As we mentioned earlier this week, August is often a slow month for news, especially when extremists and astroturf groups - bankrolled by rich interests to stir up trouble - actually take the month off, as they seem to have done during August, thankfully.

There is still plenty of discontent out there. In a poll of Ohio voters on Tuesday, if the election for President were held today, the projected winner would be no one. The bright news, if there is any, is that the poll shows that Ohioans hate President Obama the least of any of the current contenders. No single Republican comes close to his favorable/unfavorable numbers.

Congress is much worse off than that nationally, reaching a new low in voter satisfaction.

As of yesterday, Congressional job approval numbers had tied their historic low of 13%. In short, America is fed up with politicians from all parties. Surprisingly, independent Congresspersons are loathed even more than either Republicans or Democrats. The late Idi Amin of Uganda and the current tyrant in Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe, are running a close second (We're just kidding about that).

It's been obvious on President Obama's bus trip through the Midwest that he's hearing voter frustration - and that he's also fed up with a Congress that continually refuses to do almost anything.

Of course, some wealthy Americans, after hearing Warren Buffett's recent call for higher taxes on the rich, got off their fat backsides... to complain to the media that they were being picked on.

All the while, the media - especially the political media - hungry to feed their 24-hour news channels and websites, have been hovering over the Republican Presidential candidates like an excited child with a new toy. Rick Perry has been feeding his ego, and doing what Texas bullies often do - opening his big mouth and threatening everyone in a completely amateur and unpresidential way.

We tend to agree with certain other patient members of our field that the shine on Perry will wear off faster than the gloss on the new shoes of kids heading back to school.

All in all, we're glad the hatemongers, extremists and astroturf groups aren't filling this month with a storm of insane rhetoric.

In truth, we wonder if they haven't actually run out of steam, finally.

Hate can be a powerful emotion, there's no doubt. Its biggest failing is that when it's spent, there is rarely anything left to show for it, long-term.

For all the railing against the health care reform bill? It passed.
For all the rhetoric about driving the country into default? It's not close.
For all the rallies at the Lincoln Memorial? We are still a nation divided, in many ways.

We think - no, we hope - that maybe, just maybe, the break in the insanity and lies, and stupidity might finally give an opportunity for the truth to take root in  American popular discourse.

We won't hold our breath, though.

The Oracle Speaks The Truth

We spent some time digging through the news debating what should be the subject of today's commentary in part because - as we mentioned yesterday - August is a slow month. Yes, we could have re-hashed the Iowa Straw poll again - but we think the real winner of that poll is pretty clear, and there's little need to dig through that mess again.

The topic that kept catching our attention today was a message we've delivered before, one that Warren Buffett put so succinctly on Monday in his New York Times editorial, that we were almost loathe to focus on it again in the wake of his writing.

Buffett's message was as direct as the title of his piece - that our government needs to stop coddling the rich in this country, and collect from them the taxes they've been avoiding for too long. It's time for them to quit playing the tax system against itself and pay their fair share.

Mr. Buffett makes no bones about the fact that taxes for the wealthy must go up, if the future of America is going to be saved. He said that the debt & budget committee that has been set up in Congress for this fall needs to "turn to the issue of revenues" if we're going to deal with our national fiscal problems in a mature way.

He also says that those who earn more should pay more, a direct description of a progressive tax system, something we've advocated for years.

It's gratifying to see that a person like Warren Buffett, who always thoroughly walks his thoughts to their conclusions, agrees with our own conclusions on this matter.

President Obama also agrees with the concept of progressive taxation, a fact we've known for some time. Admittedly, that's been why we've been somewhat frustrated with the President's actions on tax policy over the last two years. He's compromised again and again with Republicans whose political party is currently gripped by illogical fanaticism, who seem to think that a world where no one pays taxes is a completely realistic thing.

The facts have always said otherwise.

As Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Homes said, "Taxes are the price we pay for a civilized society." That mathematics and facts also support the idea of a progressive tax, with little to no loopholes, and higher rates for those at the top of the income scale, is something we were pleased to see being released in a recent academic paper, as pointed out by journalist and economic policy wonk Matthew Yglesias.

In short, the concept of trickle-down economics doesn't work in an open economic system. It never has. The idea that capital investment flows like water to the place with the lowest cost and the highest return is what applied macro-economic capitalism is all about. If you build - or in the case of America currently, allow - a system with a ton of holes in it, it's like trying to haul a sieve full of water from a well. If you expect to quench the economic thirst of your nation using a tool like that, you will never be anything other than disappointed.

We get it. President Obama gets it. And even the Oracle of Omaha - never one to be a wild-eyed fiscal liberal - gets it.

It's time - long past time, actually - to accept the fact that some folks on the American political right will never "get" this idea, not because it's not possible for them understand, but because they choose not to.

It's time to accept the fact: there is no needle in that haystack.

No Surprises Here

August is traditionally the month when Congress is in recess, and nothing much happens, in political terms. Unless someone forces something to happen - as the Koch Brothers-supported AFP and other far right-wing groups did during the Summer of Hate in 2009  - it's generally a slow month for news.

Combine the usual dearth of fresh real news with overbearing heat, and add in the stress of summer vacation coming to an end. Now mix in the annual ramp-up of the school year complete with sports practices, music lessons, and every other activity helicopter parents can cram into their kids' lives, and you have a perfect recipe for a grumpy American electorate.

It's the same social pie Americans have been sitting down to in August for many years - and its effects on our collective system are as negative as always.

We weren't surprised then, at the results from the Iowa Straw Poll over the weekend. Historically, the straw poll means very little to the eventual outcome of who gets the GOP nomination. It's basically a contest to see who can buy the most voters and throw the best party - or whose supporters are the most fanatic. Think of it as a caucus with even fewer rules and organization.

Put those factors together, and you can see why it was no surprise to us when Michele Bachmann bit off a win over the weekend. It was also no surprise that Ron Paul's fanatic followers propelled him to a close second place finish - or that Tim Pawlenty dropped out of the GOP race after coming in third.

It's also not a shock that Rick Perry's official announcement that he was running came over the weekend - or that Sarah Palin didn't announce an official run for President. If she had announced, she might actually have to put some effort into the race - and it would limit her ability to make money from the stupidity of many in the media. Thankfully, others are finally echoing what we've said about Ms. Palin for some time - that her fame clock says her fifteen minutes have just about expired.

We're also not surprised the heat and stress have begun to build to a low boil for those people grousing about President Obama - especially those from the more liberal Left. There are those bored media folk jumping up and down that Obama's poll numbers have slipped here or there. Sadly, it's obvious many of them haven't done their homework, as his numbers compare favorably to, say, President Clinton at the same point in his first term.

We understand - the heat and boredom make some people lazy.

That's not to say some on the left aren't justifiably incensed with the President's over- willingness to compromise with the GOP. Still, the yowling and complaining and threatening to run a primary campaign against President Obama, as though such a thing would hurt him politically, is laughable.

A primary campaign could really only help Obama, much as it did when Hillary Clinton ran against him in 2008 - so that kind of threat from those on the left is hollow, at best. Yes, we're hoping that when Congress returns, President Obama gives them hell. No, we're not expecting he'll put members of Congress in a pro wrestling ring and give them a cosmic noogie until they learn to act like grownups, much as most Americans would love to see that happen.

For now, we're content to let Mr. Obama also take his vacation, after his bus tour through the midwest this week.

In short, while we're also tired of the heat, the humidity, and the stupidity, we're still sane enough to realize it won't be long before people will be pulling out their winter coats, longing for these last few days that signal the end of summer.

It happens every year.