there is a plan...

everyone's friend, David Koch
photo: forbes.com

Not to sound like a conspiracy theorist, but...

1. Unemployment is way up. Folks are desperate for jobs, which means they will work harder for less. And they won't clamor for unions, health care, pensions, or a minimum wage.

2. Taxes have been cut to the point of government insolvency. Local, state, and the federal government can either raise taxes, or cut programs that provide education and safety nets for the poor and middle-class: mainly education, food stamps, housing assistance, energy assistance (home heating & cooling), small business assistance, public transportation, Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security. With these programs diminishd, folks are more desperate for jobs, and more willing to work harder for less (witness the early days of the industrial revolution: 14 hour days, 7 days a week, child labor, no worker health & safety rules, no minimum wage -- a dream for corporate management).

3. The economy is barely growing, or even contracting, so raising taxes can be dismissed as "job killing." This leaves government shrinkage as the only tenable option.

All of the above suits the Republican Party's corporate campaign contributors just fine. So, Republicans continue to cut taxes, shrink government, and encourage off-shoring to keep unemployment high. And this facilitates the election of a Republican president, who will accelerate the US charge toward third-world oligarchy and concentration of wealth. Count on it. There is a plan...

WPA: unemployed shown at Volunteers of America Soup Kitchen: Washington, D.C. (Circa 1936)
(Picture from the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library, courtesy of the National Archives and Records Administration.)