Politico is a inside the beltway newsletter that revels in political gossip — the kind of new media phenomena that reflects the self-inflating, self-referencing character of behavior in the Hall of Mirrors that is Versailles on the Potomac. This rag is funded by right leaning contributors. That said, Politico is a barometer of sorts — in this case of bad ju ju (see report below).
Note, for example — its description of how pressure is building to whack the Pentagon’s budget. It will be interesting to see how Military – Industrial – Congressional Complex (MICC) will wiggle out of the squeeze described in last few graphs. For what it is worth, my guess is that the MICC will move to protect its hi-tech cold-war rice bowls at the expense of its people and readiness. But we are in the middle of at least two wars — which of course will generate effective counter-pressures, because we “must to protect the troops!” — and so in the end very little will happen beyond a few cometic swipes. This one of the benefits of perpetual small wars or the perpetual threat of small wars (explained more fully in my essay, The Domestic Roots of Perpetual War) A more extensive discourse on the MICC's game will be found in soon to be released anthology, The Pentagon Labyrinth, which will be freely available in hard copy as well as electronic form).
So, get ready for a run on Social Security (and Medicare?), which conveniently is not even mentioned in the Politico “report.” Obama made SS more vulnerable with his recent “temporary” 2% cut in withholding tax. My guess is that little will happen to SS in near term, but the “phony solvency issue” was strengthened by the cut, and we should expect it to be reinforced endlessly in the looming political debate. Liberal economists who recently welcomed Obama's tax cut by arguing that it will clarify the real “pay as you go” nature of economic debate over SS may be in for a nasty surprise.
Continue reading “Guns, & More Guns–Never Mind Social Security”
