It's Hypocrisy vs. Solutions for the 99%

Today, Ralston is thinking aloud about the kind of campaign the G-O-TEA will use next year. And believe it or not, they want to campaign on "ethics".

But it seems clear to me as Democrats pound away at GOP proposals to cut spending, framing them as a binary choice between protecting and preserving (get used to that construction) Medicare and Social Security or gutting the entitlements, Republicans will combat these attacks by raising the ethics of their opponents. It’s not just all they have, but each of those federal races provides ample ammunition for them to load their weapons.

Before I go on, I must note the irony of the party whose most recent not-so-voluntary departures were two of the most scandalized elected officials this state has seen — John Ensign and Jim Gibbons — using the ethics sword to slice up Democrats.

Ethics? Seriously? After what John Ensign just put the state through? After Jim Gibbons? After both Dean Heller and Joe Heck continue to ignore Nevadans' best interests in favor of pleasing their "Tea Party, Inc." patrons?

No, Jon Ralston, that's not "boiler plate" or concern about "ethics". That's total hypocrisy in action.

If Heck and Heller have such a great message to send to us, why don't they just say it? Why do they want to obsess over Shelley Berkley's husband's investments, John Oceguera's day job, and/or efforts to save UMC's kidney transplant program?

Here's why.

Now, just as there was in Teddy Roosevelt’s time, there’s been a certain crowd in Washington for the last few decades who respond to this economic challenge with the same old tune. “The market will take care of everything,” they tell us. If only we cut more regulations and cut more taxes – especially for the wealthy – our economy will grow stronger. Sure, there will be winners and losers. But if the winners do really well, jobs and prosperity will eventually trickle down to everyone else. And even if prosperity doesn’t trickle down, they argue, that’s the price of liberty.

It’s a simple theory – one that speaks to our rugged individualism and healthy skepticism of too much government. [...] And that theory fits well on a bumper sticker. Here’s the problem: It doesn’t work. It has never worked. It didn’t work when it was tried in the decade before the Great Depression. It’s not what led to the incredible post-war boom of the 50s and 60s. And it didn’t work when we tried it during the last decade.

President Obama is correct. "Trickle Down Economics" doesn't work. And loyal G-O-TEA soldiers, such as Heck and Heller, have no choice but to distract from this and find something, ANYTHING!, else to run on.

Think about it. Why aren't Heller and Heck pounding their chests and proclaiming all their great accomplishments in Congress? Wait, you mean Heck's and Heller's respective plans to destroy America's economy and throw even more Nevadans into poverty don't make a good campaign slogan? And neither would their party's continued effort to block middle class tax cuts and protect billionaire bailouts? I guess when even Wall Street executives are admitting income inequality is a real problem, they have nothing.