Steve, in the first sentence, insert "cuts" after the word "tax".

I really do wonder what planet the R's are on.

The R's are on the Planet of the Greedheads. As in "If we can't have most of the money, we're not interested."

Steve Benen wrote: "Despite being, in the words of Paul Krugman, 'completely crazy,' ..."

This rhetoric of calling the Republicans "crazy" is, in my view, both incorrect and unhelpful.

The Republicans are not "crazy". They are advocating policies that will benefit their owners, America's Ultra-Rich Ruling Class, Inc. at the expense of, and to the detriment of, everyone else. They are engaging in class warfare on behalf of the corporate aristocracy, against the increasingly indistinguishable middle class and working class. That's what they are paid to do by their owners.

It is not "crazy". What it is, though, is reprehensibly and despicably dishonest. Obviously, they cannot publicly state that they want policies that will enrich and empower the rich and powerful and screw everyone else.

So they lie, and pretend that their proposals have something do to with 'stimulating the economy' or otherwise addressing the hardships that ordinary Americans are experiencing. Their lies are transparent nonsense, so they may sound "crazy" if you make the mistake of believing they are sincere. But they are not sincere. They are con artists, looking to bamboozle gullible rubes with bullshit.

Start calling them what they are. They are not "crazy people". They are liars, frauds, and thieves who are seeking to use the power of the government for corrupt purposes of private financial gain for themselves and their ultra-rich cronies and financial backers.

If the trio of Rove, McCain, and Graham were honest about themselves they would , every time they speak their delusions and lies, would hold a squeaky toy and squeak it with every sentence out of their mouths ... THEN ALL WOULD MAKE SENSE ABOUT WHO THESE HEMMOROIDS ARE .........

It's really as simple as this:

The USA is in the mess that it is in, because for the last eight years this country has been run by an organized crime enterprise masquerading as a political party.

That's what the Republican Party under the leadership of George W. Bush and Dick Cheney became.

It is no longer a legitimate political party. It is a criminal conspiracy to loot and plunder the wealth of the nation under the guise of a fake, phony, trumped-up, scripted, focus-group-tested, corporate-sponsored pseudo-ideological smokescreen of bullshit called "conservatism".

They have been stealing from the American people for years, to enrich themselves and their ultra-rich owners. And they want to go on doing that for as long as they can get away with it. And they want to use the disastrous consequences of their own monstrous thefts as a pretext to steal even more -- trillions of dollars more -- from the American people.

If you want to understand what's going on with the Republicans and the "stimulus" bill, read Naomi Klein's writings on "disaster capitalism" to understand how the corporate oligarchs who own the Republican Party plan to profit from America's economic collapse.

So SecularAnimalist, if we can call them crazy will Handmaidens of Plutocrats work? Neo-Feudalists?

I agree; they aren't crazy. They are a narrow party for narrow interests.

Perhaps they're not crazy. But if they aren't then maybe they're just evil. The policies that they advocate are nothing less than a return to feudalism. god forbid that the wealthy are reduced to living in only two or three houses of less than 5000 square feet each.
Listen nobody is saying don't make money or even a lot of money but when it comes at the expense and misery and suffering of the vast majority then that's too much.

These guys have admitted that they are not part of the reality-based community. What do you expect, consistency?

The other possibility, I suppose, is that Rove is lying.

Nah, that couldn't be it.

Hoover did nothing for three years and things only got worse.

The Depression started in 1929, not 1932.

The maddening thing about all of this is that the host of the show on which Rove said this almost certainly failed to challenge him on it, and didn't have the facts in this blog posting that you'd expect any *prepared* host to know.

When will dems get it through their collective heads that these republicans are not in the least concerned about the country or its people. They are not a political party but a members only self ordained aristocracy. They are not bright enough to do anything other than take orders...just listen to their comments on the economy.

Their willful ignorance knows no bounds. 36 out of 40 senators voted for that destructive policy. They deserve no respect what-so-ever and are far beyond the ridiculous.

There is no discussion with these people...no debate...as they have excluded themselves from bipartisanship completely...like trying to talk to a group about fixing the roads and they just keep saying "give us all the 12 y/o blond girls in town first. Stop treating them like they matter and let's get our democracy working again for those who want to live in a democracy.

When Republican Senators can tell outright lies on the Senate floor with cameras transmitting, and the media just repeats their lies with trimming that makes the lies sound even more correct than when spoken, then democracy is on its death bed.

Last night, McCain, McConnell, Graham, Thune et. al. told their lies and no response was given by the Dems. McConnell said that the New Deal failed with a perfectly straight face.

Liebermann slobbered over the 'bi-partisans' like a male dog chasing a female dog in heat.

When the representatives of 40% of the population clearly want to do nothing except see the government fail at cushioning the depression/recession for both political ends and to serve their economic masters in the top 5% of the income scale, can we say that our Republic/Empire is looking a lot like the Romans or the Ottomans in the final days?

I'm with David Bailey, a few comments higher up. I realize you're joking when you say that Rove 'should pay more attention'-- but the real message should be that he should stop lying. Unlikely though that may be.

"I really do wonder what planet the R's are on."

Unfortunately, Hannah, ours.

The Repubs aren't evil, at least not intentionally. They're not tools of the ultra rich (the best thing that can happen for the rich is to get the economy and the the stock market on their feet again, since most of their income comes from capital gains, not salary. That won't happen until companies have confidence enough to stop cutting jobs and start spending money.)

Republicans one-trick ponies, intellectually bankrupt, which is why they lost the White House and Congress. Their one big idea, their religion since 1980 — tax cuts — has been repudiated, yet they continue to worship at its alter because they have nothing else to offer. To disavow them now is disavow themselves.

Some cuts do make sense: the payroll tax is regressive, and declaring a temporary holiday would put some money in the pockets of those who need it most and might actually help preserve some jobs.

Their reliance on tax cuts is crazy because they won't provide any stimulus while costing the Treasury trillions. Cutting corporate taxes won't help the economy one bit if businesses aren't making money in the first place.

It's not enough to catch conservatives like Rove in dishonesties like this because they happen all of the time and are perpetrated by many, many conservatives. The more important thing to understand is why. Why do conservatives, even smart ones like Rove, continue to say things that are patently untrue and easily proven to be untrue? The reason is that the GOP as a national party is trapped. It is captive to a narrow conservative ideological base that will not allow its elected representatives the flexibility to depart from the purity of its orthodoxy in order to make itself more acceptable to a broader, pragmatic public. The orthodoxy of the Republican base is so out of touch with the mainstream of America that Republicans who want to stay in office (and not face the scourge of Limbaugh, Tony Perkins, Hannity, OReilly and others) AND grow the party beyond its last Southern regional redoubt must do two things at once: They must speak and act in a way that humors the base -- which is why 90% of Republican Senators voted for a tax-cut-only stimulus bill that can't stimulate. But they must also vehamently deny that they just did what we all know they did in order to maintain even the semblance of credibility with the vast majority of Americans who know that such a one-sided package is nuts.

I've just finished Dinesh D'Souzas deeply dishonest book "The Enemy at Home: How the Cultural Left Caused 9/11." It's central dishonesty is a lot like Rove's. It is filled with contradictions and illogical conclusions and double standards and hypocracies. And the reason is that D'Souzas arguments -- like Rove's -- must give support to conservative movement first and only then look for ways to preserve their intellectual integrity or credibility or consistency.

That is how D'Souza ends up arguing that America should emulate the very same religious and traditional Muslims that he advocates we annihilate with our armies as enemies to our way of life. He doesn't say that of course, and would call me absurd for even suggesting it. But that's the logic of his position. He called Andrew Sullivan a liar for suggesting that he had accused liberal Americans of being accomplices to the 9/11 murders. D'Souza insists he said no such thing. All he had done, he says, is suggest that liberal Americans had CAUSED 9/11 to happen by inflaming a "volcano of rage" in the Muslim world because of their secular cultural imperialism which spent itself when 19 traditionalist Muslims flew airlines into buildings.

D'Souza's obligations to all of the various factions of the Conservative and Republican base, like Rove's, is what leads him to the whacky contradiction of championing the neoconservative's Invasion of Iraq at the same time he supports the Religious Right in its culture war against "secular progressives" by suggesting the way to win the culture war and the war on terror at the same time is for traditional Christians to make common cause with Islamic traditionalists across the world.

The implication of this is that D'Souza would have us turn our back on "godless" Europe and the rest of Western Civilization in our embrace of third world religious-loving people from cultures and civilizations everywhere. Of course D'Souza would stomp his feet in denial that he said any such thing. It does sound absurd, and he knows it. But he had to say it anyway -- just like Rove.

Hold on now. I'm a good Dem and I think tax code simplification is an excellent idea.

"give us all the money, let us buy what WE want, invest how WE CHOOSE, and everything will work out. NOW! CHOP CHOP!

The GOP philosophy in a nutshell.

And it will never matter what "compromises" you make to appease them, it'll never be enough. The left could completely capitulate, give the right every tax cut they've ever asked for, gut every government agency from education to the enviornment (leaving the military & their own salaries & expense accounts intact, of course), let lobbyists have carte blanche on the floors of Congress and the GOP will only consider it a nice start. Give them a nickel, they'll take a billion. Try to invest a nickel, then they'll start counting pennies. And if one penny isn't invested how they please, they won't give up the nickel.

Brilliant Republican Idea #1:

if the facts don't fit the argument, just make them up. Its easier.

Brilliant Republican Idea #2:

Let's just let the foxes guard the hen house. That will save us all some work

Brilliant Republican Idea #3:

If at first tax cuts don't succeed, try try again until the deficit is eliminated.

gop motivation?

republicans think they win...

later..

if america loses...

now...

Steve, please don't call it the "death tax." It's an estate tax. Everyone dies, but only a small fraction of Americans pay estate tax -- the ones who have so much wealth that even after their high-priced estate lawyers have routed most of it (insurance proceeds, exempt wealth, etc.) out of the probate system, there's still over $2 million left.

That's "Estate Tax" not "Death Tax." "Death Tax" is of course a new term (among a bunch of others) made up by some Republican wordsmith to fool the public.

Boy, I sure like the squeaking toy idea ... Every I speak either I , or some one near me, should have a squeaky toy handy and squeak it as I speak. That would then put every thing I say in the right perspective ........

Let's just cut Karl Rove up into little pieces and feed him to the GOP senators and representatives. Call it a stimulus package.

Cheers,

Alan Tomlinson

Honestly, that sounds about as serious as anything they suggest.

Maybe a better idea is to take a chain saw and saw off his limbs .. then roll him into a prison house and let the inmates turn him into a bitch, which in fact he already is, for their enjoyment. Of course one of the inmates should have one of those squeaking toys and make it squeak will Karl if forced, helplessly, to observe himself being repeatedly fucked by the inmates ...

I'm all for the Permanently kill the Death Tax especially when it applies to Death Republicans.

Actually there is no such thing as a Death Tax It's just the sneaky typical Republican way of renaming something and making it 'look' better.

For Republican congress critters, it's called: "Estate Taxes".... and I'm all for that.

If billionaires and multi-millionaires are stupid enough to end up owing a lot of estate taxes, because they didn't plan ahead, or are too greedy, then they deserve to pay every single penny of it.

There are so many STUPID Republicans, it's amazing. 95% of all those stupid Republicans would never even fall into the category of having to pay any Estate Taxes.... go figure.

Everything you say is true, and we really do need a stimulus focused on spending, not tax cuts. Still, it's worth not getting so into the GOP terms of the debate ("spending" as maybe or maybe not stimulus, tax cuts as always or not always better) that we don't even point out when the particular proposed tax cuts are robbing the rest of us to pay the wealthy. Perhaps few tax cuts, if any, will help the economy now, but not every tax cut is theft by the criminal mob that's been running the country. Can't we just say they're crooks once and for all?

Rove is a traitor. Throw his ass in jail.

$3 Trillion gone from the treasury over 10 years, none of it going to pay for programs Republicans refuse to get rid of.

Supply-side economics doesn't work unless cut spending to match the loss of dollars. You can't grow your way out of the deficit, not unless you cut back. Ron Paul has said this any number of occasions.

And none of his colleagues listen. It's not his fault they're right-wing socialists.