Just how close did Grover come?

[ThomWV]

Just reflecting on the current national condition and I can't help but think of Grover Norquist's infamous desire to shrink the Federal Government down to a size where it could be drown in a bathtub. That is not exactly what the Republicans have managed to do, but its close. What they have done is weakened the country so badly that despite its size it can now be drown in a bathtub. And that is what they are wanton to do, it is what they desire, to take all that is left of the protections that civic organization is designed to achieve and carve them out and throw them away with the bath water. They did not starve the beast of government, they infected it, and degraded it, and demoralized it, and now that they have got it in such a state of disrepair they want to take away its basic function, which is to protect its wards from predation.

Starve the Beast, infect the Beast, poison the Beast. The Republicans seem to do it all at once. And now they have come close to killing it. Where will we go from here? How does this play out? I hate to be the pessimist, but they are eating us alive, one bite at a time - I do not see much hope that Democrats will push the Republicans to the side (as they did to us, 2000-2004) and fix this country, and there is no chance what so ever that the Republicans will pass a single piece of legislation that will benefit the people of the country - not one.

I hate to say it, but it looks a lot like they won.

[Turbineguy]

1. The GOP is on a mission.

To destroy the U.S.

[martymar64]

2. Ultimately I think they will fail

We're starting to see the beginnings of the backlash to oligarchies in spots all over the globe, including here.

It is going to get interesting . . .

[Blue-Jay]

3. First he was near.

Then he was faaaar away!

[TransitJohn]

5. LOL.

:hi:

[guruoo]

4. Their policies are intend to, over time, eliminate the "unproductive" and politically

"uncooperative".

Might as well call it economic genocide.

[xchrom]

6. It's funny - lawmakers on our side knew/know this for a long time - but most

Play the game like torquiest has a point.

Of course centrists aren't even interested in battling that horse shit meme.
At this point - I have to think dem centrists agree w/ Grover.

[underpants]

7. They did it - 2000 projected SURPLUS in 2010 of trillions

they emptied the bank - war and Bush tax cuts - while they as usual diverted attention to poor people "taking" pennies while the people who can afford dumptrucks were backing up the truck at the Treasury.

[liberalla]

9. OMG, you're right about the trillions in surplus - and I didn't know that

I don't remember ever hearing that projection before. I had to look it up because it sounded so fantastical.

From the CBO, dated January 2001:

http://www.cbo.gov/doc.cfm?index=2727&type=0&sequence=1 ">The Budget and Economic Outlook: Fiscal Years 2002-2011

"In the absence of significant legislative changes and assuming that the economy follows the path described in this report, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projects that the total surplus will reach $281 billion in 2001. Such surpluses are projected to rise in the future, approaching $889 billion in 2011 and accumulating to $5.6 trillion over the 2002-2011 period."

They (Bush & GOP) must have been drooling and rubbing their hands together in anticipation of enacting "significant legislative changes."

What a price we've paid... Damn.

[upi402]

8. yeah

seems to be so

and not much opposition