"Class warfare may make for really good politics, but it makes for rotten economics."
That's what House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI) told Fox News Sunday last September.
I would argue it makes for both rotten politics and rotten economics. And there is no greater example of that than Chairman Ryan's own budget.
That's right...the Ryan budget...the one that ends Medicare but continues tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires...is back.
It's like a bad horror movie.
So what is different this time around? The answer is not much.
It still does nothing to create jobs. It still eviscerates the social safety net. It still fails to invest in education, infrastructure, and clean energy.
But this time around Ryan and his allies plan to talk about it differently. Or as Politico put it, "use the right poll-tested words."
So in the coming days and weeks, you will hear the Ryan plan called "bipartisan." Supporters will try to sell it as a plan to "fix Medicare."
But all the poll-tested words in the world will not change the fact that this budget is no different than the one the American people soundly rejected last year.
The Ryan budget is class warfare in its worst form--an attack on workers, seniors, and the most vulnerable to put more money in the pockets of wealthy individuals and corporations.
Ryan is not alone in this cynical effort. Across the country, big corporations and their cronies in government are doing their own poll testing to learn the best way to enact their anti-worker agenda.
Some are pushing so-called "Right-to-Work" laws, which actually result in no rights at work. Others are pushing so-called "Voter ID" laws, which actually result in voter suppression.
So Ryan can say something is bipartisan and he can say it will fix Medicare, but when you read the fine print, it is clear that exactly the opposite is true.
The American people are desperate for our elected officials to work together. They want a good job, decent benefits, and enough money in the bank to send their kids to school, own a home, and retire with dignity. They do not want a handout--they want a fair shake at the American Dream.
Every day, big corporations, with the help of pollsters and people like Paul Ryan are waging a coordinated effort to take that dream away.
They are doing it with smoke and mirrors, poll-tested words, and their belief that the public doesn't know up from down.
But make no mistake--the American people will not be fooled. Whether it was Wisconsin, Occupy Wall Street, or the way the Ryan budget went down in flames the first time around--ordinary people get it.
Americans have and will always stand up against government of, by, and for the corporation.
You can take my word for it-- or just do a poll.