The billionaires who pass out the right-wing Kool-Aid are desperately trying to push the fantasy that they are going to act out Ayn Rand's novel, and leave us all to starve if we allow that Kenyan Socialist to raise their taxes by a couple of points. That's not what it's about of course. These people will still have more money than they could ever burn if they tried. They're really afraid that the middle class will realize they've been screwed and start wanting their country back.

Own a chain of mediocre restaurants that allow you to live in castle (literally) while you pay the help almost nothing? You might be paranoid about the peasants catching on that you aren't really entitled to do that. They are scared to death of Liberals because of the very meaning of the word. Liberal is short for Liberal Enlightenment, the idea that we all have a say in the society we live in. The idea that the rich and powerful aren't really the enlightened few who get all the rewards from our work because they are in charge.

Drudge.com has a map on their web page that shows the US as 99% Red. The typical dim bulb who follows them will assume that somehow this means Acorn stole the election for Obama.

The reality is, of course, that most of the 'Red' counties (small in population) weren't 'red' by all that many votes, depending on the concentration of 'trailer trash'. In fact, the 'Blue' voters don't bother in areas where there isn't any point in voting. Combine that with the tens of millions who don't know what the 'left' is really saying about a 'right' that sees them only as potential dog food. Confronted with the actual 'reality,' their vote would be different.

The push from the right now is to preserve the billionaires. Even if you don't think Obama is 'liberal' enough for you, it's time to call the White House and tell him that you have his back on the 'fiscal cliff.' Tell him that we will all take the tax hike from the expiration of the Bush tax cuts to keep the billionaires from robbing the country blind.

www.prairie2.com

Eighty big corporate CEOs are issuing joint statements through Murdoch's Wall Street Journal about the dangers from Congressional inaction on the fiscal 'crisis'. They talk down the economy, they are making announcements about layoffs, highlighting below expectation earnings, and generally spreading panic based on Congressional inaction on the 'fiscal cliff'. Just before the election, coincidence?  Probably not. Nothing about the 'fiscal cliff' requires immediate action, they aren't laying off people because of it, if they are really laying off people at all. Demand creates jobs, not corporate CEOs.

It doesn't matter what the 'lame duck' Congress or the President does right now about any of 'fiscal cliff' items. The Republicans demanded it be set up this way, when they were holding the country hostage over the debt ceiling. They would have had 'the fiscal cliff' happen on election day, but that would have been too obvious politics even for dull witted 'independent' voters. They just pretended that everything would 'magically' come to a head at the end of the year. Pssst, the fiscal year ended September 30th. The real concern is who will be making the decisions at the end of January, when it counts for the next two years.

The Dow dropped 200 points today on 'below expectations' earning from McDonalds, GE, Google and others. It also happens to be the anniversary of the 1987 crash, the biggest since '29. Who was President then? (The Sainted Reagan) Today's drop wasn't a significant event, given the size of the market number, but you wouldn't know it to listen to the media.

The thing you have to remember is that the term 'below expectations' means that the companies are actually doing well and making huge profits. They just didn't meet an arbitrarily contrived number issued by market 'analysts'. You can bet that the Republicans will be screaming "economic collapse!" based on nothing of consequence.