Does anyone actually still believe the words "trickle-down theory" have any valid meaning? Is anyone buying into this fiction that increasing the minimum wage would ruin our economy but multi-million dollar executive salaries don't increase prices at all? Has any republican ever truly explained why the free marketeer "job creators" had a decade of "small government less taxes" that nearly pushed our economy into collapse but failed to create a single job? Have they ever been able to explain why their hawkish, bullish insistence on bombing and invading countries has never actually provided increased national security? Or how extreme extraction and export of fossil fuels will never lead to energy independence?
I'll tell you why they won't, because they can't. Why not? Because it is all a con. A scheme. A grifters game. It is a sham. And one I don't think even republicans believe in anymore. I believe it is deliberate, well-planned and strategic. This isn't just bad policy, it is a scam.
And that is why it is time to call conservatives what they truly are -- cons. Cons as in con artists. Grifters, scammers. This isn't a difference between two ideologies. This is a fight between those who want to protect our way of life and those who want to hoard it for a few hundred rich people while the rest of us struggle to get by.
It is woefully apparent what conservatives are up to now. They use convoluted reasoning to contest every reasonable idea. They try to control the conversation and lead us down the garden path of conservative ideology, which often just leads to empty space, much like an empty concrete lot, or a bridge to nowhere. The cons have nothing constructive to add. They won't consider another point of view and they certainly aren't going to contribute toward compromise.
They have invested considerable time, money and angst into this scam, and they aren't going to give it up without a fight. Enter the "tea" "party" "darlings", the Koch funded, ALEC scripted, NRA protected experts at convoluted thinking and absolute obstructionists.
Their end game is to force their ideology on the rest of. And they do it by convincing people that this is really a good thing, that somehow, someway, someday, despite all evidence to the contrary, eventually, their con policy will bring them considerable rewards and wealth. It is your basic Ponzi scheme. It is a long con.
What is the long con? It is a long term strategy that can be kept in place over a period of time to convince a mark, or in this case taxpayers, that a scam, for example "small government less taxes", is beneficial to them, when in fact, it is not.
According to Leverage Wiki:
The long con refers to any of a variety of cons which require more planning, preparation, a longer window of interaction with the con's target and a longer period of time to execute. The long con may also require a large crew or a larger number of involved people to pull off the deception needed to relieve the mark of their cash or other valuables. Unlike a short con, the long con requires time to slowly draw the mark or marks into the con, but often results in very large pay-outs. Because of the difficulty in organization and execution, long cons are considered to be for experts, not the province of new, young con men.
This long con has been in place for about 30 years according to my research and really came to fruition during the Reagan Administration.
What are the specific aspects of the long con ideology:
- Rich people paying less taxes will put more money into the pockets of the working poor and middle class.
- Less taxes on corporations will create jobs
- Welfare costs more than defense spending and poverty is not a problem.
- There is not enough money to fund public education.
- Protecting the environment is bad for the economy.
- Republicans are better at national security.
- Republicans are better at economic policy.
- Increasing the minimum wage will hurt business, but excessive executive compensation does not.
- Republicans have a right to inspect our uterus but we don't have a right to inspect their guns.
- Government is bad and therefore we are going to elect the worst people we can find to convince you of that.
Seriously? Does anyone buy this into this crap?
We are seeing some real change. Seattle for instance, increasing the minimum wage to $15 per hour. That is going to really test the con theory. Because basic math tells me that more money in the hands of those who will spend it is a good thing. What will happen is there will be more incentive for workers, creating a demand for a highly skilled and motivated work force. It will also put a lot more money into the local economy creating a demand for more products and services, creating more jobs, creating more opportunity. Which creates more demand, more jobs, more opportunity, see how that works?
Any word from the cons on how supply side economics works? No? I didn't think so.
This is a major and very important difference between the economic theory that Democrats believe and that which the cons put their faith in. We believe that demand creates prosperity, jobs and opportunity, as has been proven time and time again and is documented in economic data. We can prove our point with facts and historical documentation. Cons on the other hand believe supply creates wealth. How, they can't tell us, why it would work against all logic they don't know and how long it takes they can't say, but they are sure it will eventually "trickle-down" to create jobs and wealth. Just don't ask them for any details, because if you do, you obviously are not a "patriot".
So far the only thing the cons have been partially successful at is privatization. I mean, for-profit prisons are profitable. And for-profit charter schools. All that school testing is creating lots of profit. Two wars created trillions in profit for all those subcontractors. Just no money for our Vets or to secure our embassies.
All we have to do is allow the cons to launder our public funds into private profit, and viola, trickle -down profits, well, for their corporate persons, there is still no money for schools or welfare. And I know, that is not what the cons promised, but well, don't blame them, they never promised us a rose garden. That was Obama. All that hope & change. The cons just want more of the same. And if you aren't on board with that, well then obviously you are a communist. Or is it a socialist? The cons are never really clear on which, but obviously, we're not good corporate persons like the ones who pay their bills. And really if you just stop asking so many pesky questions and go watch the World Cup or Stanley Cup or some other sport it will all make more sense because you will stop asking questions the cons simply won't answer.
So what is the long con? It is convincing you that our schools are broken, "they" hate us for our freedom, drilling is a reasonable solution to climate change, banks are important but schools are not, bombs are the way to peace and climate change is a hoax. It is saying taxes are bad but corporate tax subsidies are good. It is the claim that corporations are people and the death penalty is a sensible solution to prison overcrowding, and guns can't be inspected but a woman's uterus must be.
The long con is all the lies, the privatization of our post offices, prisons and schools. It is arresting the poor while the rich laugh all the way to their offshore banks. It is buying into this greed mentality and the stupidity that intellectualism is bad and education unnecessary. And if you don't believe me, just ask a con for some context. And then sit back for the long con.