What astounds me the most about this budget process is how vacant the media is in the education arena. There are tremendous opportunities for, “The American People,” a phrase we hear 1000 times a day, and “the next generation,” which we hear another 200o times., to provide some insight and content about the actual budget process, wherein one would discover that there is so little wiggle room in discretionary spending that it makes most of this theater look like sandbox play. End the wars and the budget is balanced. Amen.
The “Other America,” has indeed been watching and listening, and we hold the media as culpable as the duopoly of ideational cotton candy.
As the saying goes the news today is, “coverage not content.”
Caterpillar Corp. has about 98,000 employees, with only 40,000 or so in the United States. Why? Lets answer that in front of the  “American people.” You will then get closer to the revenue problem that cannot possibly be handled with political wrangling. I honestly think Newt Gingrich was right on when he made his faupa  in front of fellow GOP members, by stating, “they are too engaged in social engineering.” That is the sponsoring thought my friends, and the cat is out of the bag. With the likes of the Carlyle Group buying up water rights around the nation and the sale/leaseback of public buildings to foreign investors,  the  budget debates are the grandest red herring in our democratic history. We are selling off our water and wind energy to Communist nations in the middle of the night, and no one seems to care or know.
This bullpucky about “The President has no plan,” is repeated in rote like it is some religious prayer. Presidents do not have their OWN plan. Never have. That happens to be our system of governing. Yet people suck it up on a Monday and by Thursday the entire nation are moo-cows repeating Rush Bimbaugh with ditto head phrases that even trick their own brains into thinking they are thinking.
As a long time non-partisan registered voter, I recall the wonderful ” Swiftboat” days where anything that came from the mouth of a veteran with a piss cutter on was gospel truth. Did you know that 3 of those men had to retract their stories,(that were paid for btw), because they were too stupid to realize the VA was listening? So, if there was no valor on that particular day for John Kerry, ( I do not like him btw), then they would have to turn in their  own medals and give up their disability pensions. No news story ever followed.
The drum beat from the media  was deafening as it is now, but nearly absent of accuracy and self correction. Remember the siren cries about Kerry not signing an SRF-180 form? You would have thought it was an act of sedition. It is only a damn request for records. He is a friggin Senator. They just send him his records. Period!  Bimbaugh made it sound like the man would not take an oath and the whole nation fell for it.  And we used to think only the Russians and Pravda were skilled at brainwashing.
The other doozy, sorry for the long analogies, but they are now current, is the blasting over the air waves about the Overseas ballots not being post marked in 2004. We must have heard that 100 times a week. Ladies and gentleman, mail from troops who are deployed has not been postmarked via the USPS since World War l. It comes through the Armed Forces network. Yet the nation fell for it and the media did nothing to correct, educate, or adhere to any standard of accuracy in reporting.
Now, today, this hour, we are witnessing the advent and implementation of the Supreme Court. Citizens United decision. Corporations can sponsor and say just about anything they want, with total impunity and not an ounce of rebuking from our once sacred Fourth Estate that has now been co-opted by pretty face journalism.
Add to that, the Supreme Court decision about “Stolen Valor,” the simple upshot that it is not unconstitutional to lie, and you have the ground work for unraveling a nation and inserting your private agenda. That is what Newt meant by social engineering.
I believe Satan just landed at LAX and is traveling America on bus tours.