The right-wing bullies are emboldened.
They will hold the nation hostage again and again. In a few weeks the debt ceiling has to be raised. After that, next year's budget has to be decided on. House Budget Chair Paul Ryan has already put forward proposals to turn Medicare into vouchers that funnel money to private insurance companies, turn Medicaid and Food Stamps into block grants that give states discretion to shift them to the non-poor, and give even more big tax cuts to the rich.
There will also be Republican votes to defund the new health care law. "Americans of different beliefs came together," the president announced after agreement was reached. It was the "largest spending cut in our history." He sounded triumphant. In fact, he's encouraging the bullies onward.
All the while, he and the Democratic leadership in Congress refuse to refute the Republicans' big lie -- that spending cuts will lead to more jobs. In fact, spending cuts now will lead to fewer jobs. They'll slow down an already-anemic recovery. That will cause immense and unnecessary suffering for millions of Americans.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-reich/post_1927_b_847279.html
