Monday, March 10, 2014

Where Being Right Equates to Perennially Being Wrong . . . .



Another case of - "Have the conservatives ever been right about fucking anything?"

Observe:

When Washington residents voted in 1998 to raise the state’s minimum wage and link it to the cost of living, opponents warned the measure would be a job-killer. The prediction hasn’t been borne out.
In the 15 years that followed, the state’s minimum wage climbed to $9.32 -- the highest in the country. Meanwhile job growth continued at an average 0.8 percent annual pace, 0.3 percentage point above the national rate. Payrolls at Washington’s restaurants and bars, portrayed as particularly vulnerable to higher wage costs, expanded by 21 percent. Poverty has trailed the U.S. level for at least seven years.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-03-05/washington-shows-highest-minimum-wage-state-beats-u-s-with-jobs.html



Hmmm -- so you mean that modest increases in the minimum wage, and which are linked to the cost of living index, do not kill jobs - and in fact actually enhance the overall health of the economy?  But the right wing conservatives and the Fox "News" people keep telling The Gadfly that ANY increase in the minimum wage is going to destroy the economy and decimate job creation.

They couldn't possibly be wrong - could they?

The Gadfly is truly tiring of this routine.  Time after time, after time again, conservative economic policies are blown to pieces by this strange concept that The Gadfly likes to call ---- FUCKING REALITY!  And yet, it seems that no matter how often the right's policies are proven to be unsubstantiated by anything resembling facts or evidence, they just dismiss it out of hand and move on to the next policy issue for which they also likely will be proven wrong about.

And frankly, if it were only economic policies for which they are colossal failures at, The Gadfly might be inclined to be a bit less pissy about it all.

But the truth of the matter is that for the last 40 years, these unrepentant assholes have been miserably fucking wrong about nearly everything.  Wrong about Saint Reagan's trickle-down economics.  Wrong about de-regulation benefiting consumers.  Wrong about trading arms to the Iranians to fund secret Central American wars.  Wrong about supporting the Mujahadeen in Afghanistan, thus giving rise to The Taliban.  They were miserably and tragically fucking wrong about rejecting recommendations to focus on Osama Bin Laden in favor of planning an Iraq invasion.  They were miserably fucking wrong about lying to the American people about weapons of mass destruction and Iraq's (non-existent) role in 9/11.  They were wrong about escalating the Afghanistan conflict instead of getting out after defeating the Taliban.  They were wrong about how the world would respond to America torturing prisoners of war.  They were wrong about the American health care system being just fine the way it is.  They were wrong about the deficit which skyrocketed on their watch.  They were wrong about Politicization of the Justice Department.  They were wrong about their approach in dealing with Hurricane Katrina and it's aftermath.  They were wrong about believing that a long-term national energy policy should be based almost exclusively on oil, gas and coal.  They were wrong about allowing investment banks and Wall Street police themselves.  They were wrong about bailing the investment banks and Wall Street out after their criminal activities tanked the world economy and initiated a world-wide recession.  They were wrong about Sarah fucking Palin.  They were wrong about Thurston Romney Howell III and Paul Granny Starver Ryan.  They were wrong about believing the Tea Party was a true grass roots movement and not a bunch of recycled John Birchers and cynical political tools funded by right wing billionaire industrialists like the Koch Brothers and their ilk.

The Gadfly could provide supporting links for every one of those charges of being wrong, but they are so numerous, he simply does not have the inclination to spend the next hour doing so.

The Gadfly really dislikes compiling lists, but in this case, he wanted to effectively point out exactly what kind of abject failures that American right wing conservatives have been over the past four decades, and for which a predominant share of the blame can be assigned to for our nation's present day circumstances.

Let's face it -- if The Gadfly were a casino gambler and had consistently placed his money on the conservatives being on the winning side of each of those issues listed above, The Gadfly would be a destitute bum, roaming the back alleys of the Vegas strip, dumpster diving for his next meal.

Wake up folks!  If you are a conservative, it really is time for a bit of inward looking honesty and to ask yourself why it is that you keep backing such chronic and pathetic losers.

Raise the minimum wage to $10 or more an hour.  Then watch while America prospers and the conservatives scramble to find yet another progressive championed policy issue to be miserably fucking wrong about.



----TFG



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