W's Winning the (Wrong) War!

Reagan said of the war on poverty, "poverty won". More accurately, his administration withdrew from the field, unilaterally disarmed, and surrendered unconditionally. The Bush administration has returned to the battle -- on the other side.

The only war this administration is capable and really interested in winning is the undeclared class war. The super rich have easily won every battle -- inheritance and income taxes, bankruptcy laws, trade policies -- while the merely rich and everyone else have lost. Brilliantly, the administration has shifted the costs of this war to the middle class. They will pay for their losses for generations, through increased national debt, tax cuts for the super rich, jobs lost to people with fewer benefits and less labor protection, cuts in education (to pay for testing), and extraordinarily expensive no-bid contracts given to cronies' companies. The permanent war on terror ensures steady profits for these companies.

The bankruptcy act is this administration's neutron bomb -- hurting people but protecting property. In a surgical strike on the consumer, Senate leader Bill Frist showed his skill in destroying their protections while protecting their collateral. The Republicans understand and abhor this form of "collateral damage". Sure, the bankruptcy laws needed reform, but this was designed to hurt the most vulnerable almost gratuitously. One example: victims of Katrina who lost nearly everything but their debts will have to pay a consumer credit agency to counsel them on living within their means. Special legislation may protect these refugees but not the many more families suffering, individually, equally catastrophic disasters.

I argued previously that this administration was incompetent -- having lost the Iraq war through stupidity. This alternative explanation is more consistent and comprehensive -- and entirely compatible with stupidity. This is a war the super rich are waging on the rest of us. Wake up, America! You have nothing to lose but your Cheneys.