Hostage-Taking Has Only Just Begun — HellOOO TEAPARTYVILLES

Those who continue to insist the GOP didn't score a major victory are just plain wrong. The severe austerity measures of this debt deal and the resulting economic contraction will not only lead to millions of jobs lost but, as many economists including (but not only) Paul Krugman have warned, will lead to a repeat of 1937 when FDR was convinced by Republicans and conservatives in his party (the ideological twins of Geithner, Summers, and YES, President Obama) to tackle the rising deficits despite strong economic growth that was pulling us out of the Great Depression. FDR took his foot off the Keynesian government investment/"spending" accelerator in jobs, infrastructure, enduring projects (roads, bridges, dams, national parks, environmental conservation projects) whose legacy carried over to succeeding generations. And this is what happened — See chart and Rachel's (we MISSED ya!) awesome report:

And here's Paul Krugman on Keith's freedom of news zone:

Back in 2009 when we were still reeling from the Bush economic collapse some wingnut jackass pegged an "Obamaville" sign ("Hooverville," get it ...) on a chain link fence enclosing a 'tent city' in Colorado. Cheap shot, of course, considering the President's imperfect and inadequate stimulus saved or created some three million jobs. Still, the "optics" of charging fat cats $35,000 for a high end ticket to attend his post-austerity bill birthday bash, are terrible. The wingnut blogosphere is taking the President to the cleaners for this ... speaking of self-inflicted wounds: $35,000 is an unemployed American's average ANNUAL living wage.

The Tent Cities, terrible expressions of abject poverty and homelessness in this, STILL the world's wealthiest nation, have mushroomed across the land, especially in Tea Party red states in the South. They're tragic and they will grow, consequentially for this administration, as a result of this calamitous debt ceiling cave-in. The time is NOW for We, The People to mobilize and begin taking our country back from these extremist Republican/Teabaggers, or as Bill Maher calls them: SCUMBAGGERS.

And let's call the TENT CITIES for what they are: TEAPARTYVILLES.