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Rage Against the Machine: A War vs. Consensus
Grosso, Joseph
http://www.counterpunch.org/2018/01/01/rage-against-the-machine-a-war-vs-consensus/Publisher: CounterPunch Year Published: 2018 Resource Type: Article Cx Number: CX21930 As it stands now, even if the unlikely liberal wet dream of a Trump impeachment actually comes to pass, the theocratic Mike Pence will simply assume office. No doubt cities like New York and Boston will initially erupt in celebration. But should it really be that long before the realization dawns that the real work remained ongoing? Abstract: - Excerpt: The wittiest line in the latest installment of an increasingly banal Star Wars franchise comes from codebreaker DJ, who Finn, reformed storm-trooper turned rebel, and his companion Rosie encounter in a prison in a wealthy Las Vegas type resort town whose inhabitants we are told got wealthy exploiting workers of mining colonies then using the mined materials to sell weapons to the dreaded First Order. Observing the despair emerging in Finn upon finding evidence that some of the town's largess also comes from selling space-fighters to the rebels with whom Finn has cast his lot, DJ advises Finn 'It’s all a machine partner. Live free, don't join.' It can be comical to observe the lengths that much of the American public, particularly its Liberal end, go to avoid facing this observation. On December 26th the Washington Post featured a story titled 'Democrats build a case against tax bill but don’t call for repeal.' The article featured Bernie Sanders' answer to CNN's Jake Tapper's question regarding the Tax Policy Center estimate that next year 91 percent of middle-income Americans will receive some tax break. Sanders response: 'Yes it is a very good thing. That’s why we should have made the tax breaks for the middle class permanent.' Senator Joe Manchim (D-WV) explained his opposition to the saying 'I was for lowering the corporate taxes from 35 to 25.' The rates referenced to there apparently are meant distinguish from the 21 percent rate that ended up in the bill, and the 28 percent that Obama called for as president (Obama wanted 25 percent for manufacturers); Defensible perhaps but a far cry from the Armageddon rhetoric of Nancy Pelosi and others in the preceding weeks. Left out of any current Democratic dissent is the question of whether tax cuts were needed at all, nor any reference to the fact that most large corporations were paying nowhere near the prior 35 percent and most likely won’t be paying even the new 21 percent. Subject Headings |