Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

“Loving your country does not mean lying about its history.”

It’s all just conspiracy shit beamed down from the mothership.

Fear or fury? The choice is ours.

Accused of treason; bitches about the ratings. I am in awe.

Republicans want to make it harder to vote and easier for them to cheat.

Fundamental belief of white supremacy: white people are presumed innocent, minorities are presumed guilty.

Let the trolls come, and then ignore them. that’s the worst thing you can do to a troll.

The republican ‘Pastor’ of the House is an odious authoritarian little creep.

Good lord, these people are nuts.

fuckem (in honor of the late great efgoldman)

When they say they are pro-life, they do not mean yours.

“woke” is the new caravan.

Balloon Juice, where there is always someone who will say you’re doing it wrong.

The party of Reagan has become the party of Putin.

I’ve spoken to my cat about this, but it doesn’t seem to do any good.

You know it’s bad when the Project 2025 people have to create training videos on “How To Be Normal”.

Radicalized white males who support Trump are pitching a tent in the abyss.

if you can’t see it, then you are useless in the fight to stop it.

Compromise? There is no middle ground between a firefighter and an arsonist.

Russian mouthpiece, go fuck yourself.

Nothing says ‘pro-life’ like letting children go hungry.

If you can’t control your emotions, someone else will.

Never give a known liar the benefit of the doubt.

Too often we hand the biggest microphones to the cynics and the critics who delight in declaring failure.

You are here: Home / Economics / Austerity Bombing / Open Thread: Always Be Conning

Open Thread: Always Be Conning

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Digby alerts us that “Fix the Debt”, aka “Steal the Trust Fund”, is still on the loose, and they are coming for the Yoot:

The shrieking cries of the fiscal hawks may be somewhat muted with the news that the deficit is shrinking, austerity is a bust and that they’ve achieved their fondest wish of poor people suffering due to sequestration while national security contractors get rich from taxpayer dollars.

But they haven’t yet gotten their hands on the holy grail and until that happens, they will still be using their billions to git ‘er done…

They’re going to keep at this until a fair number of younger people see this point of view as conventional wisdom. I wish there was someone out there on the youth side that was pushing back. It could take a toll over time.

Since I am a geezer, and a musically unhip one at that, I have to ask: Are Midnight Hike, White Ford Bronco, Silver Liners, and Redline Addiction actually hot acts that will draw the kidz? Or are they just the latest form of College-Young-Republican scam where Pete Peterson buys a bunch of resume-padding interns not only better instruments than they could otherwise afford, but some semblance of a captive audience as well?

Reader Interactions

52Comments

  1. 1.

    karen

    I have no idea who any of those bands are. I’m 47 so I’m not a youngster of course but I listen to indie music and pop music and none of those bands sound familiar.

  4. 4.

    NonyNony

    @karen:

    Quick Internet search suggests that all of them are local DC bands. Playing at a local DC club.

    So… this looks like it’s probably more of an event targeting young Congressional staffers and other folks who will be moving into the DC bureaucratic apparatus in the future, rather than something targeting young people in general.

    Which would be par for the course if it is in fact a Pete Peterson operation – no need to actually argue democratically. Better to target the future elites with your money and handle things autocratically instead. That seems to be his MO in general so why not?

  5. 5.

    Citizen_X

    Who? The bands look lame. And boy, what happened to the 930 Club?

    How many Millenials are going to be worried about the national debt, as opposed to, oh, their own student debt?

  6. 6.

    Dolly Llama

    At not only first glance, but on the second and the third, I could have sworn the headline was “Always Be Coming.” And I thought it was weird that nobody had taken that bait right off the bat. Then I looked a fourth time. Clearly, it’s time for bed.

  8. 8.

    MomSense

    Oldest son has never heard of them and said he would have to look them up. Middle son is ignoring me as usual.

  10. 10.

    lgerard

    Rock the debt?

    That’s hilarious

    I don’t think these out of touch fools understand what happens when you “rock” something

  12. 12.

    Chris

    @NonyNony:

    Quick Internet search suggests that all of them are local DC bands. Playing at a local DC club.

    Dear God. These fucking people SO need to get out of their bubble.

    You’d think people who spend so much time ragging on “Washington” would understand that.

  13. 13.

    PsiFighter37

    I wonder who conned Bill Belichik into signing Tim Tebow. Probably was Josh McDaniel, still trying to prove to everyone that he didn’t waste a 1st rounder.

    Hope he’s as useful to them as he was for my Jets. Knowing our luck, he’ll be the next Danny Woodhead

  15. 15.

    The Dangerman

    @Dolly Llama:

    And I thought it was weird that nobody had taken that bait right off the bat.

    Everyone else that read it that way was, um, busy.

  16. 16.

    Redshirt

    @PsiFighter37: What do you mean, con? The Dark Hoodie always has a plan. Some kind of trickery, I suspect. Two QB’s on the field? Teabow as option fullback? Proto WR/Tight end? Touchdown Jesus insurance?

  19. 19.

    MattF

    See, the plan is to hire some local bands, get everyone drunk, and then all the young ‘ins will trust the financial industry. It’s bound to work and one can only wonder why didn’t anyone think of that sooner?

  26. 26.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    @Comrade Jake: Or are they assholes? I keep getting those confused. Dickweeds and douchenozzles are easier to tell apart.

  27. 27.

    BGinCHI

    Imagine the youngs who would go to the 930 club to see music and emerge wanting to make sure the debt goes down at a time when borrowing money is free.

    I can only guess that the bathrooms have a stall offering free lobotomies.

  28. 28.

    Ben

    At least among those not politically in tune, I can say that sadly, many members of my generation believe that Social Security won’t be there when we retire.

  29. 29.

    Bruce S

    @Walker:

    So the kids today are staying off of Alan Simpson’s lawn?

    (Although I’m guessing that many more than 186k saw this – on some episode of the Daily Show, Colbert or other news clips making fun of it.)

  30. 30.

    Zifnab25

    @BGinCHI: If there’s one thing I love, it’s showing up for booze, music, and cute girls in short skirts, only to be waylayed by some guy waving flyers and screaming about how important it is that we think about long term fiscal planning of the federal government.

  32. 32.

    Suffern ACE

    @Redshirt: lol. We heard that last year. Now I admit, the jets are not the brightest bulbs in the tulip garden, but I’ll give you a hint if they have two QBs on the field as to which one they’ll snap the ball to, which one will run the play, which one will pass, and which will hand off the ball.

  33. 33.

    Redshirt

    @Suffern ACE: The difference is Brady. Last year there was actual pressure for Tebow to play – Sanchez suxored. Remember the butt fumble? So people rightfully asked for Tebow to get a shot. But of course in NE, there will be no such pressure and Tebow can be some special teams/special weapon Jesus or something equally wacky. Also, maybe it was decided the Patriots need more coverage in the media.

  34. 34.

    Narcissus

    @Ben: Hell I’m almost thirty and have my doubts about whether or not there’ll be a safety net left by the time I’m old. I’d also like to get a full-time job at some point but I’m not holding my breath for that one, either.

  35. 35.

    BGinCHI

    @Zifnab25: Let’s give it up for less everything!

    Who wants to crush our culture for the Olds!

    Not even Ecstasy would make me clap for that.

  36. 36.

    Hob

    I hope it’s not the same explanation that Game of Thrones recently offered for why the host of an expensive shindig might choose to hire really lousy musicians.

  39. 39.

    gmann

    $12 a ticket and the place holds 1200. . .Maybe they’ll donate the draw $ it to the Fed. Withholding all comments about Great White

  40. 40.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @Bruce S:

    Wow. No kidding.

    We oldsters may not need to encourage the kids to put these guys on tumbrels. They’ll do it with no prompting at all.

  41. 41.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @Redshirt:

    Also, maybe it was decided the Patriots need more coverage in the media.

    I would not dismiss such a notion instantly.

    In fact, it’s pretty plausible. You know the idjits at ESPN will just go gaga over this…

  43. 43.

    bjacques

    White Ford Bronco sounds like a band name made up by Republican Congressional interns.

    Debtstock! If you were there, you probably couldn’t really afford it.

  44. 44.

    pluege

    when founding themes of rock ‘n roll were: “gonna die before I grow old”, and “better to burn out than fade away”, its pretty ironic (and detached) to be using rock n roll as a medium to convey a message about the debt and retirement funds.

  45. 45.

    pluege

    are today’s youth smart enough to understand that without social security and medicare, their parents become their burden?

  46. 46.

    cvstoner

    No one under 40 believes that Social Security will be around when they get to retirement age. Indeed, No one under 40 believes they will even be able to retire.

    You can certainly blame the Republicans for that. But, lately, the Democrats have been complicit in perpetuating this belief as well.

  47. 47.

    PLH in NYC

    The only people that will buy this BS are people that have already been raised on the koolaid. And if you listen to punk rock, there are plenty of bands out there who preach about equality, social justice and the environment.

  48. 48.

    polyorchnid octopunch

    I don’t have a retirement plan. I have a mentally disabled child instead.

  49. 49.

    polyorchnid octopunch

    As for the bands, I’m willing to bet they don’t give a fuck one way or another, they’re doing the gig for the money, just like every other musician. The band names indicate a certain je ne sais quois about the culture in DC though.

  50. 50.

    steph

    Seriously? A bandapalazoo to raise awareness to fix the debt? What’s next? Raising awareness to privatize social security? Or raising awareness to cancel SNAP?

  52. 52.

    pluege

    @cvstoner: I recall well being twenty-something and not giving social security a moments thought because I was sure it wouldn’t be there when I became eligible. Now that I’m getting pretty close to being eligible 30 some odd years later, lo and behold its still here and good for at least another 20 years to boot (if the grubby mitts of the plutocrats can be held at bay). Imagine that. What a remarkable program.

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