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Obamacare Implodes
May 15, 2013 | 41 comments
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Obama’s Rising Inequality
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Downsize the Liberals
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Fight Back! Privatize the FAA!
April 24, 2013 | 65 comments
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Fallacies and Charades
April 17, 2013 | 14 comments
The Obama Watch
A Big Question for 2012
Do federal spending, deficits, and debt promote economic growth and prosperity?
If you listen to President Obama and his Democrat and liberal/left cronies carefully, a clear, consistent message comes through on what they think promotes economic growth and jobs. They believe that the way to promote economic growth and prosperity is through increased federal spending, deficits, and debt.
That is not a caricature of their position. This is precisely what they are saying. And they are true to their words.
Still Another Failure of Keynesian Economics
The policy, in fact, began within 30 days of President Obama taking office, with his so-called stimulus bill that increased federal spending by nearly a trillion dollars, which was supposed to create millions of jobs and promote economic recovery. It was followed by further spending increases that altogether have increased federal spending so far by nearly 30% since 2008, to an all time record.
President Obama’s own 2012 budget projects a federal deficit for this year of $1.645 trillion, the highest anywhere in world history by several times over. The President’s own budget documents project as well that by next year more debt will be run up in one term under President Obama than under all other Presidents in history — from George Washington to George Bush — combined. On March 18, the Congressional Budget Office issued a report concluding that federal deficits over the next 10 years under President Obama’s budget would soar by nearly a third more than he estimated, totaling nearly $10 trillion over those 10 years, which would double the national debt again to $21 trillion by 2021.
The national debt is already the highest in history as a percent of GDP except for World War II, and on its current course will soar well past that record (109% of GDP). Indeed, our national debt as a percent of GDP is slated to soar past the level that triggered bankruptcy for Greece (115% of GDP), when the financial markets refused to lend the government enough money to cover its enormous annual deficit.
Yet, Paul Krugman has argued in his New York Times column that all of President Obama’s increased spending, deficits and debt were not going to be nearly enough to bring back real economic recovery, and that they all should be increased much more. If the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result, then Krugman’s columns literally exhibit raving insanity.
In his State of the Union Address earlier this year, President Obama followed Krugman in arguing for still more federal spending as the key to economic growth, jobs, and prosperity. That includes increased spending for high speed trains, high cost bureaucratic education, and higher and longer unemployment benefits, which former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi tells us produce the most bang for the buck in jobs and economic growth. It includes increased spending for a new energy industry based on corporate welfare and bailouts for economic survival, producing high cost energy that will prevent the rest of the economy from surviving, while he shuts off proven reliable energy sources.
Now when Tea Party Republicans move to cut federal spending, deficits and debt, Democrats and their liberal left fellow travelers cry that will wreck the economy and jobs. With the federal deficit this year at $1,645 billion, and federal spending at $3,819 billion, the Senate’s second ranking Democrat, Dick Durbin from Illinois, proclaimed on Fox News Sunday recently that $10 billion in cuts for 2011 was the absolute limit. If those wild-eyed Republicans were allowed to cut any more, Durbin claimed, the fragile economic recovery would be stalled, and America would lose the critical federal spending President Obama and the Democrats believe is essential to maintaining America’s competitiveness with China.
Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), ranking Democrat on the House Budget Committee, predicted on CBS’s Face the Nation on February 20 that implementing the GOP’s full $100 billion spending cut for fiscal year 2011 would cause a loss of 800,000 jobs. Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) claimed the GOP spending cuts would risk a double dip recession.
And regularly on The Larry Kudlow Show on CNBC Robert Reich pops up to argue the same, saying that cutting federal spending, deficits, and debt now would impair the recovery. Recently, Ezra Klein of the Washington Post appeared on the show taking the generational baton to argue as well, so confident of establishment authority, that all the federal spending, deficits and debt were essential to propping the economy up right now.
This is not new Democrat propaganda spin. In fact, it reflects precisely the oldest, establishment, hoary, outdated in fact, Keynesian thinking dredged up from the 1970s and even the 1930s.
When Will They Ever Learn?
Keynesian doctrine holds that economic growth is stimulated by increased government spending, deficits, and debt. That is supposed to increase demand, which is supposed to lead to increased production to satisfy that demand, restoring economic growth. It never worked in the 1930s, as the recession of 1929 extended into the decade long Great Depression.
It was a proven failure by the 1970s, for anyone who was paying attention, as ever worsening cycles of inflation and recession culminated in double-digit inflation, double-digit unemployment, and double-digit interest rates. Under Keynesian economics, recession is caused by too little aggregate demand, and inflation is caused by excessive aggregate demand. Since it is impossible to have both too much and too little demand at the same time, recession and inflation together are not supposed to be possible under Keynesian doctrine, and so the 1970s could not have actually happened. The “Progressive” Left has consequently decreed the 1970s to be cast down the memory hole, and rewritten as a classic time of great prosperity, with anyone who refuses to play along shouted down.
About the Author
Peter Ferrara is Director of Entitlement and Budget Policy at the Heartland Institute, General Counsel of the American Civil Rights Union, Senior Fellow at the National Center for Policy Analysis, and Senior Policy Advisor on Entitlements and Budget Policy at the National Tax Limitation Foundation. He served in the White House Office of Policy Development under President Reagan, and as Associate Deputy Attorney General of the United States under President George H.W. Bush.
Bill Hussein O'Stalin| 3.30.11 @ 7:05AM
Obama makes Carter look smart.
LarryK| 3.30.11 @ 3:07PM
Ouch! That hurt!
Usef| 3.30.11 @ 4:54PM
Comparing Obama to Jimmy Carter is an insult to Carter.
Alan Brooks| 3.30.11 @ 10:59PM
Vouchers, private schools, are all to the good. Yet education will be even more expensive in the future-- look in the mirror to see who pays for it.
Then there's the legal, court system, a revolving door, recidivist one.
Intelligent Design| 3.30.11 @ 7:16AM
Federal spending, deficits and the national debt suck capital out of the private sector, thereby slowing or even reversing economic growth and undermining national security. We need draconian cuts in federal spending (about $1.5 trillion) coupled with the dismantling of the entire federal income tax system in favor of a single national sales tax, aka Fair Tax (www.fairtax.org).
Michael Tomlinson| 3.30.11 @ 7:46AM
"Unemployment among African-Americans had persisted during that period at 15% or above. Among Hispanics it persisted well into double digits as well. Among teenagers it was stuck at 25%, 45% for black teenagers. These groups were truly suffering a depression." It is hard to feel sorry for these groups since they're Obama's base and will probably support him in 2012.
Nunya| 3.30.11 @ 8:46PM
Very good point. One hopes that they will actually learn a lesson, but I won't hold my breath.
Michael Tomlinson| 3.31.11 @ 12:20AM
Don't forget Rush, Hannity, Coulter and Ingram who did everything they could to destroy the GOP Congress (that was on the way to balancing the budget by 2015), undermine Bush and gave us Reid/Pelosi/Obama and this massive debt . . .
Mimi| 3.30.11 @ 8:04AM
Another great article, Peter....filled with facts and figures.
My biggest worry is that the "INTEREST" on all that debt will hamper our children, and their children , and put a weighted bundle on their backs to carry and to be burdened thru-out their lives....and YES, caused by a political party and irresponsible PRESIDENT. Now they consider the TeaParty folks the ones they must destroy and shame the Republicans for ...LISTENING to them, while they throw "PENNIES" on the table for their idea of DEBT & DEFICIT relief!
Intelligent Design| 3.30.11 @ 8:27AM
The Demos don't want to cut anything. The Republicans are talking about max. $100 billion. This is less than 1% of the national debt, which is growing by about $150 billion per month. The debt is equal to about $126,000 per taxpayer, and approaching 100% of GDP. The failure of both parties to cut the size of government is undermining our economy, our national security, and freedom.
In November 2012 we'll vote Obama, more Senate Democrats, and some Republicans out of office, resulting in the Republicans having control of both the White House and Congress. I seriously doubt that they will live up to our expectations. They will lack courage, as usual.
Mimi| 3.30.11 @ 11:24AM
COURAGE....The number 1 attribute to look for in any candidate you plan to VOTE for...Also known as GUTS...cojones, moxie, face danger, spunk, bravery, spirit, fearlessness, heroism, spunk, valor, grit, valor........The OPPOSITE being...COWARDICE !!! ( in case any pols wannabes looking on)
YeloStalyn| 3.30.11 @ 11:54AM
I, for one, am raedy to vote for someone who, when faced with a lie from either side of the isle, calls them on it, point blank, to their face, on the House or Senate floor... then hits the TV circuits saying the same thing. And if he's badgered by the Statists he simply, and publicly, tells them to go screw themselves because they are self-serving sacks of dog crap.
The time for tolerance and cooperation is over. Why the holy hell should we tolerate and cooperate with people who very clearly do NOT have OUR liberty as their main interest?
Nunya| 3.30.11 @ 8:51PM
ID, I agree completely. When W was elected the R's had control of everything. I hoped that they would cut spending, cut back the size of the federal government, and do what the people wanted, and they managed to do absolutely NOTHING with the exception of spending money like it was going out of style. We'll give the R's control back next year, but if anything substantive comes of it I will be surprised. I'm afraid we don't have a two-party system, we have one party with two agendas: one faster, and one slower. Nothing short of drastic action on the part of SOMEONE will stop this country from becoming Zimbabwe in the near future.
martin j smith| 3.30.11 @ 8:07AM
NO
Brian Mc| 3.30.11 @ 8:28AM
We do not need government cuts. What we need is government dismantling. I would guess that for every dollar sent to D.C. we get 10 cents in return.
The federal government has become the prodigal son. Repeal the sixteenth and seventeenth. Only then can we possibly bring order back to the madhouse. Of course, we'll need a national organization for the resulting confusion. Like AA, might be it's time to devote efforts to LA (Liberals Anonymus). "Hi, my name is Chuck, and I'm a liberal".
winterhawk| 3.30.11 @ 8:37AM
If obama's assault on our country is allowed to continue with his re election, this country is over with.
B. Lindstrom| 3.30.11 @ 8:50AM
Anyone recall AmSpec asking this question during the Bush Admin? Does anyone recall AmSpec urging conservatives to oppose the Bush Admin when it was recklessly expanding "federal spending, deficits, and debt"?
Me neither.
FACT: If George W. Bush was pursuing every single policy that Obama is, in the exact same way, most AmSpec writers would be cheering him on.
Intelligent Design| 3.30.11 @ 9:00AM
Democrats gained control of Congress in January 2007. Since then the national debt has increased from about $8.6 trillion to $14.1 trillion, or 64%. Now that Republicans control the House, Democrats are fighting even the smallest budget cuts.
StarbucksDave| 3.30.11 @ 9:08AM
M. Lindstom, where were you when George W. signed the No Child Left Behind Act? - certainly not reading AmSpec. Where were you when Bush signed TARP? - not reading AmSpec. Where were you when the Chrysler/GM bailout boondoggle was set in motion - again, not reading AmSpec.
Instead, all you offer is the tired old DNC drivel as if it were actually relevant to anything at hand. Look around, does the Democrat only answer - throw more money at the problem - actually work? Anywhere? Any problem? Any time?
Drunken Sailor| 3.30.11 @ 10:05AM
Dear Lindstrom.
Since you seem to have a crystal ball that see's into alternate realities can you tell me what would have happend if the media had done it's job and not covered for Obama or did everything in their power to make him a American Idol President?
Troll!!!!
B. Lindstrom| 3.30.11 @ 11:10AM
Yes I can - McCain would have been elected president, he would be bailing and taxing and spending just as much as Obama is now, and you would be defending him and cheering him on, because he would have an (R) next to his name rather than a (D).
Anything else you'd like to know?
Drunken Sailor| 3.30.11 @ 11:43AM
Yep, your shoe size. Because it obviously matches your IQ. I voted for Thompson. Held my nose to vote for McCain as the lesser of two evils.
Michael Tomlinson| 3.30.11 @ 1:32PM
BS!!!!!
Michael Tomlinson| 3.30.11 @ 1:31PM
Obama in one month doubled Bush's last yearly deficit. There is no comparison. Bush was within the traditional GDP expenditure of all US Presidents including Reagan (Bush was at a lower % generally) and Clinton (who he equaled).
While you were obviously deaf and blind in 2005 the conservative crack up was caused by TAS writers like James Antle III whininig about profligate Republican spending and urging people to vote for the two-faced, lying blue dog Democrat scum like abysmal Jim Webb. One moron attorney writing in TAS said we could "afford to throw away an election or two." We are now reaping the results of their chrulish commentary attacking the GOP Congress and President Bush.
Obama and his party are out of control and since they took over Congress in 2007 have doubled the national debt. The pathetic attemp of Obama apologists to compare this failure to President George W. Bush is weak (this includes Obama's unilateral decleration of war against Lybia w/out Congressional approval).
Rush Babe| 3.30.11 @ 2:14PM
"While you were obviously deaf and blind in 2005 the conservative crack up was caused by TAS writers like James Antle III whininig about profligate Republican spending and urging people to vote for the two-faced, lying blue dog Democrat scum like abysmal Jim Webb. One moron attorney writing in TAS said we could "afford to throw away an election or two." We are now reaping the results of their chrulish commentary attacking the GOP Congress and President Bush."
You bet your sweet ass. And they're still doing it and will contribute LARGELY to the Obummer's reelection.
Fools, all.
Tom Osterman| 3.30.11 @ 9:38AM
"Tax and tax, spend and spend, elect and elect." The Democrats long ago learned to use spending to create constituencies that would keep them in power. Any real cuts in spending would bring the scam to a screeching halt and ruin the Democratic Party politically. Which means that the Dems will take the country over a cliff if they have to.
It's only going to get uglier.
Clint| 3.30.11 @ 10:19AM
Uh Oh !
Obama's Buddies at GE Ride On The Obama Sled.
In January, President Obama named General Electric CEO Jeffrey Immelt to head the President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness, an economic advisory board focused on job creation.
Now, GE is a global corporation with 287,000 employees, $150 billion of revenue, and $12 billion of net profit. But last year, this massive and wildly profitable company paid less in U.S. income taxes than you did, says the New York Times.
Specifically, the New York Times says GE's U.S. tax bill last year was "none." And the paper is sticking by that statement even as GE declares it "simply not true" and "misleading" and points out that GE paid state, local, payroll and other taxes.
But how can it possibly be that GE pays no U.S. taxes even with U.S. income of $5.1 billion and a federal tax rate of 35%?
Aaaaand, how much will Immelt & The Boys at GE contribute to Obama's 2012 " Let's Fool The Suckers Again" Presidential Campaign?
Pete| 3.30.11 @ 12:10PM
Windfall profits? Not for Dem buddies.
YeloStalyn| 3.30.11 @ 1:03PM
From what I understand from the story, GE DID pay taxes.... but they also got tax credits/breaks/etc. that resulted in a NET tax laibility that was actually in their favor.
Which would allow both statements, the NYT and GE's, be true.
Oh what a tangled web we weave...
Clint| 3.30.11 @ 7:28PM
"General Electric’s (GE) U.S. profits in 2010 came to $5.1 billion, while worldwide it earned $14.2 billion. It’s tax bill for the year? $0.00. Over the last three years, GE’s effective tax rate — how much it actually pays the feds — is a minuscule 3.6 percent. By the way, since 2002 the “imagination at work” company has put its thinking cap on and cut 20 percent of its domestic work force, while shipping thousands of jobs overseas.
How does that happen? The short answer is simple enough: GE is the best corporate tax dodger in all the land. As the NYT’s David Kocieniewski documents in his excellent piece today, the company’s peerless mix of aggressive lobbying in Washington, creative accounting and battery of in-house tax experts has paid off handsomely. In fact, GE actually earned tax credits of $3.2 billion in 2010."
http://www.bnet.com/blog/finan.....dalous-tax
Michael Tomlinson| 3.30.11 @ 1:39PM
A flat 20% corporate income tax on all profits without deductions (note they'd still be able to deduct depreciation for capital improvements) would end Obama/Democrat's crony capitalism that punishes small businesses and rewards their rich buddies.
Lets not forget the Democrat party is the party of big business, corrupt labor unions and Hollywood fat cats who they reward at the expense of working Americans and small business.
Nunya| 3.30.11 @ 9:00PM
Absolutely. I think 20% is a bit much, but a flat tax for EVERYONE would remove all of the back-door deals and conspiring going on in Washington these days. What's sad is the D's complain about the R's and their "oil companies" and yet they are FAR worse with the banks and finance companies.
Welcome to America. Run by Goldman Sachs.
Michael Tomlinson| 3.31.11 @ 12:08AM
Nunya I think 10-15% would be the best #, but I'm not sure the populist Tea Party or liberals would be open to this type of tax reform for corporations after TARP . . .
Habu| 3.30.11 @ 10:31AM
This thread is way above the average contributors knowledge to contribute more than a rail shaking baby crib rant agreeing with the author.
If you want to be conversant on this topic read This Time Is Different: Eight Centuries of Financial Folly , by Carmen M. Reinhart and Kenneth S. Rogoff, Cabot professor of public policy, is an unusually powerful bull detector designed to protect investors and taxpayers alike—eventually, at least, and provided the spirit is willing.
Yes I know it's a book ,not a TV show but 90% of the reviews say this is THE best tome to come out in decades on economics and how Keynes fails.
I read it four months ago . It's not a wonk book and understandable by the average citizen ...yes , a book you'll have to read ...or you can just rant.
Tom Osterman| 3.30.11 @ 11:04AM
Some of us know how and why Keynesian economics fails, but the problem is that a lot of political players willfully ignore the fact.
A tax-and-spend politician doesn't care if it works so long as it gives him a justification for the spending that keeps him in power.
The leftist needs it to fail so that he can then argue that it doesn't go far enough and that the government should run things, i.e. we need socialism.
We do need to explain why Keynsianism fails, but the economic argument isn't enough.
Drunken Sailor| 3.30.11 @ 11:47AM
Thanks for the Info Habu, however I do not need to know why it fails, only that it does. I can look to the past failures to determine that. Knowing how would be interesting but you are not going to convince those that support it with well known facts anyway. Their minds are made up, facts be damned.
Michael Tomlinson| 3.30.11 @ 1:46PM
When I have an opportunity I might just down load it to my Kendel. Thanks for the heads up. But ranting can be cathartic.
Peppermint Tea| 3.30.11 @ 10:34AM
The article assumes there will be an election in 2012.
David T| 3.30.11 @ 11:10AM
President Barack Obama declared martial law today as massive riots continue to spread throughout the country in response to rising food and energy prices. The 2012 elections will be postponed, the President said, until such time as order can be restored and safe and fair elections can be assured.
Mikie21| 3.30.11 @ 10:35AM
Obama's biggest worry in 2012 is where is he going to be spending his enforced retirement in 2013 and thereafter. He should'nt waste him time worrying about this.
Ron| 3.30.11 @ 11:42AM
The golf ciruit of course, wait he fails at golf as well
Nunya| 3.30.11 @ 9:03PM
Nah, I'm thinking the local basketball court. :-)
Michael Tomlinson| 3.30.11 @ 1:48PM
How about a Federal prison where he can induble his homosexual fantasies.
Michael Tomlinson| 3.30.11 @ 1:49PM
Sorry it is late where I am. I meant to say "indulge his homosexual fantasies."
rightasrain| 3.30.11 @ 5:58PM
Maybe Obama and Qaddafi can live in exile together.
Clint Lovell| 3.30.11 @ 10:45AM
Fabulous article. It left me wanting more, Peter.
vtwin| 3.30.11 @ 5:21PM
Well, if this bullsh*t has left you “wanting more” let me recommend fox news, rush Limbaugh, the heritage foundation, the national review, …
Nunya| 3.30.11 @ 9:03PM
Thank you. I will.
Elwood| 3.30.11 @ 10:51AM
I wonder if the yo-yos in Washington ever stop to think about how wealth is created. OK, I will explain it to them. Someone or several someones decide to borrow money or provide their own and go into small amd medium sized businesses making things or providing services. They do this to make a profit and they hire people to help them do it. After all, if they don't make a profit they go out of business. In the meantime they provide jobs for PEOPLE. Most of the giant corporations of today, so vital to our economy, started out as small or medium sized businesses. So there you are, Washington bureaucrats , Congress and POTUS. But I don't expect you to do anything abaout it. I think you will continue down the same road, taxing and spending because that is your mindset and all you know how to do.
Ron| 3.30.11 @ 11:43AM
Most of our politicians have never had a real job, especially our Community in Chief
Doug| 3.30.11 @ 11:29AM
Great article. I love the Dem claims that cuts will harm the recovery. What recovery? I must have missed it.
Oldefarte| 3.30.11 @ 11:37AM
Peter's editorials are quickly becoming my most favorite reads among TAS writers. As with the BABE of NY Yankee fame, he should simply point to the outer field walls of the editorial baseball field [as an indication of where his current editorial will transend upon his issuance of same]. The essential element of this economic subject to me is that for every dollar of taxpayers' confiscated money spent by the government, that this represents an equal dollar of private sector loan-available capital that is squandered/lost. By reducing governmental expendatures/spending, you are actually freeing up more available private loanable money by banks/financial institutions that could/will grow our economy. I'm not in favor of tax cuts/reductions at this point [possibly later on], and would maintain governmental revenues at their present levels; but governmental spending should be cut/lowered to as much as possible. There are whole governmental entities/departments which should be completely eliminated [and not just less funded], as they solve no problems and are simply a waste of taxpayers' hard earned money. Foreign aid, farm subsidies, certain welfare expendatures, etc come to mind. Eventually I'd like to see the government begin to delete all government expendatures and begin to re-institute a FROM-THE-GROUND-UP re-authorization of taxpayer funding for credible programs based upon demonstratable need for their existences. Instead of lowering programs governmental funding, why not question every program's existence, with the ultimate question being IS IT/THEY ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY?????????
rightasrain| 3.30.11 @ 6:01PM
Peter will be speaking at the Morristown, NJ tea party on 4/16.
Nunya| 3.30.11 @ 9:05PM
Any plans to come to planet Utah?
Ron| 3.30.11 @ 11:40AM
There is no way President Zero can overcome his failures with the economy. In addition he faces his failures in foreign policy. His failures in national security. Aw heck is is a failure in everything.
Pat| 3.30.11 @ 11:58AM
Theoretical arguments – mentally stimulating – well, not really. It was once more fun to debate the relative values of specific baseball cards or who is physically tougher – the Hulk or Iron Man. But, as adults, we have to find diversion in more serious subjects – Keynesian policy vs. monetary policy – the Hulk vs. Iron Man – hard to admit we change much as we age. And we know deep down it’s always about simple greed in the end, the upper 1% getting rich at our expense – and there is not a blessed thing we can do about it. And, no, we’re not referring to the Bill Gates of the world, those entrepreneurs who didn’t need to victimize their fellow citizens on their journey towards fabulous wealth. Rather, it’s about the back room deals in Washington, sometimes between lobbyists and politicians, sometimes between pressure groups and politicians and oftentimes between politicians and politicians – the purely human rationalization that a thief’s welfare is somehow legitimate if an impressive sounding economic theory can obscure strictly personal motives – and that political power can easily equate to personal wealth as long as the American peasants don’t find out what you’re doing.
Call it Keynesian economics or call it corruption, the result is always the same, some weary waitress in Atlanta or hard working plumber in Portland will be taxed and the money will quickly find its way into a politician’s pocket under the banner of some theoretical economic model with a high sounding title – a theory bandied about by eager young aides to powerful politicians, politicians who secretly know what’s really going on.
And what is really going on? We can’t know because the media is never told. They’re not invited into the back rooms when the deals are discussed, they’re told what to tell the long suffering public, they require much daily blather to fill their column inches, but ultimately they’re also free to assert some childish independence by questioning an economic theory serving as a smokescreen for unrestrained greed.
Like the French before their revolution, the vast majority of us has no clue what really goes on inside the Palace – we’re forced to pretend our collective welfare is paramount with our leaders. So, sure, monetary policy can beat up Keynesian policy any day of the week and twice on Sunday.
YeloStalyn| 3.30.11 @ 1:07PM
I must agree with everything except one thing...
There is no question who is physically stronger between the Hulk and Iron Man. It's the Hulk. Iron Man is merely mechanically strong... not physically (ie, muscle and bone).
Pat| 3.30.11 @ 2:22PM
Yelo, absolutely agree with you that Hulk is physically stronger but it was "tougher", not stronger. And the relative attributes of comic book characters have as much intellectual validity as Keynesian swindles - we're just not as serious about this nonsense as the other commentators are - and folks no need to preach a long winded sermon in response on just how serious this economic policy blather is, the politicians will continue to rob us whether we collectively believe, half believe or don't believe at all.
YeloStalyn| 3.30.11 @ 3:36PM
I wouldn't say that I'm completely devoid of real interest or concern on the subject... but realization of the outcome does mute one's desire to figure out how or why we're going to get there.
But then there is hope. That thing which drives us to strive for some means to divert this future. And, sadly (or would it be sappy) I have hope that we can. What I don't have hope in is people, en mass, not being 'turned off' by someone who speaks the ugly truth. My wife's grandmother doesn't want to hear that she has no just claim to the fruit of my labor just because some politician in her hay-day promised my future to her. They can both go pound sand (except that his promise will be back up with the full faith and credit of a government issued firearm in the case that I deny to go along to the n'th degree). I love her to death, but we're screwed precisely because of the mentality she... and everyone else by and large... have.
And even on the issue of "toughness" I would have to go with the Hulk. Again, Iron Man is a machine. Tony Stark is very smart, to be true... but still just a normal human. He, in no way, can compare to a mutant or super-human. Unless h'es the Punisher because Frank Castle is the man.
Nunya| 3.30.11 @ 9:22PM
I agree with a lot of what you say. However, I part ways with you on the part of "...the media is never told. They’re not invited into the back rooms when the deals are discussed"-- I disagree entirely. Frankly, there is NOTHING that I have seen (though I am not a part of the MSM) that would lead me to believe that they are not only informed, but are ACTIVELY working with the powers that be. If there exists an honest journalist, they are very few and far between all of those that are helping ruin this country. Damn them all. (Kind of like lawyers--I agree with Shakespeare.)
I also agree with the first sentence of your last paragraph, but not the end--it's KNOWLEDGE of economics that can beat up Keynesian theory every day and twice on Sunday--our "leaders" have not required that economics be taught (for a reason, I believe). Once the "masses" or the "people" actually learn that it's not some kind of eternal mystery--as it is presented by most-- then, they will understand that our "leaders" have been robbing us blind for generations. Our founders knew this, which is why they warned us about it. We have become paupers upon the richest and most economically viable land in the history of mankind--and the vast majority of this population has no clue about it, nor cares. THAT is the saddest part of all of this. However, from the thieves' point of view, if you don't recognize that you've been robbed, you're not likely to come after the thief with a shotgun...
Jeff Perren | 3.30.11 @ 12:04PM
"Rest assured that the very question -- do federal spending, deficits, and debt promote economic growth and prosperity? -- will be taken to the voters in the 2012 election."
Let's hope. The question is, so far as the Presidency is concerned, what Republican candidate will carry this question during the campaign? Some will give it lip service in order to get elected, but are there any real cutters in the field right now?
That the answer is "none" is worrisome.
YeloStalyn| 3.30.11 @ 1:45PM
The answer is not "none." But there is still reason to worry. Of the "main" front runners they are either unelectable (Palin... although I do like her) or are a HUGE RINO gamble (Romney... probably not really a gamble... odds are he's a RINO of the first order).
But you do have people like Herman Cain who I have full faith understands the issues better than most, can articulate them better than most, and is steadfast in his understanding of liberty, both economically and personally.
I'm not throwing my hat in the ring with him just yet... but I do have MOST of my eggs in his basket at this point in the game.
Jack| 3.30.11 @ 2:00PM
I have a short list and Herman is at the top. He eliminates the playing of the race card and believes in this country. We don't need a Romney or a party lap dog with more of the same DC philosophy.
Habu| 3.30.11 @ 12:38PM
Tom Osterman| 3.30.11 @ 11:04AM
I have no doubt some of us understand Keynes,but Joe Six Pack running around with an average IQ at about 100 isn't going to and that is the challenge. having a group of bloggers or economists discussing the dismal science is wasted time when your message is so garbled that it never penetrates the average voter.
Most hoi polloi want to watch football, then the three hour follow up to what they just watched and finished the day with a meal , a beer , and a vague understanding that he is somehow getting screwed but can't devine which party is telling the"truth"
We have dumbed down education to the point where long division is a difficult proposition for many. Try explaining QEII to the average person.
Drunken Sailor says its not important why it fails only that it does. Well if you never determine the cause of a failure you will never be able to even begin to address a solution.
We are headed for a revolution,killing and clarifying as they usually are since things get elemental very quickly.
Few if any can comprehend being in debt 15 thousand billion dollars. Total economic collaspe is galloping toward us and the culling of the marginal will begin. Perhaps the entire nation will cease ....the wheel does go 'round.
Drunken Sailor| 3.30.11 @ 2:34PM
Actually Habu, I said it was not important "I" know why it fails, just that it does. I agree some do need to know but I also know my limitations and my sphere of influence. They do not include anyone with the power to address the situation. I do love to read though so perhaps I will see if I can find the book you mentioned. Finding the time to study it may be another matter.
Habu| 3.30.11 @ 4:22PM
My apologies sir, you are indeed correct in your phraseology.
George S| 3.30.11 @ 12:54PM
It is not about whether a policy works or doesn't. It is about what can be claimed politically as credit or assigning blame. If the economy turns around by 2012, Obama will take the credit; if it is stuck where it is today he will blame Republicans. The question will be: will the economy help or hurt politically? If fixing it was the key to reelection, it would have been done already.
This is why Democrats never fixed Medicare or social security over the decades -- because once fixed, it is no longer an issue that can divide and terrorize. Arguing the merits makes for thoughtful discussions but politicians only care about what is best for reelection. The hell with the rest of us.
Al Adab| 3.30.11 @ 1:20PM
No, is the answer to the question posed in the article. That said however, The Left takes it as a matter of Faith that government action is the source of all good things and that central planning is preferable to free markets in all events. Unless we can somehow overcome that prejudice and restore a world view of classical liberalism (what in the U S is called Conservatism) there is little hope of ever restoring Liberty to our citizens
logbearer| 3.30.11 @ 3:16PM
"Unless we can somehow overcome that prejudice and restore a world view of classical liberalism (what in the U S is called Conservatism)"
Could you expound on this concept please?
Al Adab| 3.30.11 @ 3:34PM
Start with John Locke and the enlightenment. Natural rights are what the founders attempted to write into the American Nation. Governments exist by consent of the governed to protect the rights that people have by virtue of their humanity. Rights are inherrent not a grant of the Monarch, government, or power. Free market economics not central planning is the preferred order of society.
Those are some of the tenants of classical liberalism and they are found today as tenants of the Conservative Movement in the United States. Hope that helps. Of course books are written about it so this is limited space and in a nutshell.
Habu| 3.30.11 @ 1:42PM
George S,
" If fixing it was the key to reelection, it would have been done already."
Ah, well, ah...George, you don't just "fix" the largest economy in the world between elections. You might continue the discussion about fixing it which is THE forever ongoing discussion in Washington but our political system isn't based on logic or the "proper fix" whatever that is, it's about power. That returns us to the dumbed down electorate who much like the congenital liars in our government can't ascertain a sustainable course of action because we have basically two schools of economic thought. The Austrian and the Marxist. We have 535 members on Congress who couldn't write a twenty page paper on either school and the guy on the street would be so frustrated after the title page that he would never read it were it to be produced.
So Wall Street and the private FED write our laws on monetary policy and pay off the Congress and President to pass those laws. Then the taxman confiscates what he is told to confiscate.
We are so totally screwed up in this country on so many policies that words like freedom have absolutely no meaning. Go ahead, try to fight the government...today you'll end up in prison without due process ...go ahead...I dare you.
And I guarantee the world will end before the Marxist ie. the Democratic Party cease sabotaging this country.
Nunya| 3.30.11 @ 9:40PM
Habu, you are absolutely correct--in fact, I dare ANYONE to ask ("aks"?) their Congressman or Senator to define the difference between Keynesian and Supply Side Economics, and I will give 3-to-1 odds that NOBODY can give a true answer. Thank y0u, NEA and public (pubic?) education
Jack| 3.30.11 @ 1:52PM
Increased spending will create jobs and demand but only if they are American made products not overseas producers. Otherwise it stimulates their economy and our debt. We have lost all of our production thanks to the failed policy of World trade. Fair Trade only works with countries that have a similar regulatory process in place and standard of living. Otherwise the companies move to the countries where there is no regulation and labor is cheap which skews the market. The end result is the skewing of the American worker.
e cowan| 3.30.11 @ 2:17PM
'If you listen to President Obama and his Democrat and liberal/left cronies carefully, a clear, consistent message comes through on what they think promotes economic growth and jobs. They believe that the way to promote economic growth and prosperity is through increased federal spending, deficits, and debt.'
FDR did it all in the 30's and the only thing that got the US out of the depression was WORLD WAR II.
At least it solved the problem of unemployment.
Real recovery of the private sector didn't come until after Truman was forced to dump price controls.
What do we learn from history? That we learn nothing from history.
Habu| 3.30.11 @ 4:18PM
I say if a shooting revolution is good enough to illicit foreign aid from NATO, the USA and a few others then it's good enough for us.
Over the last century the "mission creep" of our government ,both Democratic and Republican administrations has been to continually enlarge the force, physical and financial , they can bring to bear on the individual citizen. The government has abrogated the Bill of Rights so much so that to speak of it as a guard against an out of control government and the "rights of the people" is risible. The Federal Register is thicker than the New York telephone book and the Corpus Juris Secundum extends to boundaries beyond comprehension. Our government passes thousand page laws that NO ONE in Congress has read nor understands what is in the legislation.
These are the types of abuses of power that fully warrant a shooting revolution if we or our children are ever to see the true meaning of freedom that was passed to us from 1776.
Our government and both parties have lost all legitimacy to govern yet they control the machinery of elections and gerrymandering and thus remain in control, and power and control are what they are always approriating from the people. Our local police are no longer protectors of our rights but enforcers of an increasingly totalitarian government and it's thousand page unread bills they grind out yearly. King George is having a good laugh.
Think we could get a million men with arms to converge on DC? Hell no. Even with the right to bear arms and all the arms were long guns,not pistols, the government would shoot us down,calling what could be a peaceful demonstration an insurrection.
We, my friends are powerless be it a Republican or Democrat in control of the government. If you believe our government will ever get smaller and return our rights you are very deep in the woods.
Martin Niemöller said it best when speaking about the German intellectuals who did nothing to thwart the rise of Hitler in the 1930's:
First they came for the Jews and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for the Communists and I did not speak out because I was not a Communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists and I did not speak out because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for me and there was no one left to speak out for me.
YeloStalyn| 3.30.11 @ 4:34PM
To further boost your statement... a conressional candidate in Texas had is nearly successful campaign railroaded when he had the audacity to quote Jefferson and the idea that revolution was not simply an option, but a duty, when the government no longer succumbs to the rights of the individuals. He was run out of town and brandished an "extremist" who advocated violence.
Sadly, those in power can wield the stupid masses quite easily leaving those few true patriots that remain at odds with the very neighbors we would like to liberate... all because they fail to read history or critically watch current events.
Thom| 3.30.11 @ 5:30PM
By the end of 2012 another 2 trillion will be added to our national debt short of a significant increase in economic growth…..
Our economic growth is hindered by the current Marxist crew in Washington DC and a horde of regulations that make this Nation uncompetitive against the rest of the world. I could cut 100 billion out of the Federal budget by getting rid of just two worthless departments. I could raise that to 200 billion without much effort getting rid of others but at the end of the day we can’t close the gap without economic growth and a lot of that. On top of this we have institutionalized much of our problem in the Constitution with such things as the 16th and 17th Amendments. People with money don’t want to invest here. We are a “bad risk” for investments as things stand now.
There are no quick fixes or miracle bubbles here. Much of the sloths in this nation are dependent on living off someone else’s taxes. We pay tens of millions of able bodied people to not work by various means including being professional students into their mid to late twenties and beyond. We are in our third year of paying the same unemployed people to not do any kind of work at all…. I believe Peter overlooked the bulk of all those unemployed are living off our ever increasing debt….. What do they care? What do any of those living off a government check care about any of this I would add? That’s the trap the Founders tried to avoid by institutionalizing a proportionate tax system. What we have today makes the ghost of Karl Marx just smile from ear to ear…… “ From each according to his means to each according to his needs…. And some animals are more equal than others………”
Literally hundreds of billions are spend at the Federal and State level every year supporting those that don’t work and could and should. The bulk of twenty two million government workers (I was one for 20 years) and tens of millions of people living off transfer payments rather than working to support themselves and those they are responsible for have had an easy ride over the last couple of years and most I suspect think things are going to just keep going the way they have always been…… The Middle East isn’t the only place that can burn down…..
Those “good men” Burke talked about are in very short supply these days….. By the end of 2012 that hole they have to dig out of is going to be a huge amount deeper and it will take over a decade to just get back to 2008 levels….
Someone needs to find those “steely knives” and put them to good work on the “beast”. The sooner the better for all. If not, the “crash” will be an equal opportunity destroyer of wealth and prosperity but the ox in this society will find themselves particularly unfortunate when they run up against those few “good men” who understand the meaning of the word “no” and are willing to be good to their word.
A lot has to happen here on many fronts for this Republic to survive…. The figure head at the top stands in the way but the problem rest with the herd of entitlement seekers behind him….. It is no more complicated than that…..
Habu| 3.30.11 @ 6:26PM
Thom| 3.30.11 @ 5:30PM
Great point’s sir.
To add a bit more grist to our crumbling mill is the question of just what are the Japanese going to do to finance the reconstruction of an almost totally devastated power supply, not to mention the hazardous radiation clean up? The answer this country is in great jeopardy of facing is that the second largest US debt holders in the world, the Japanese will be forced to sell that debt to pay for the astronomical calamity they have suffered.That in turn will give pause for the Chinese, who have been pushing the yuan as the world’s reserve currency, to sell their US debt also. Either that or watch their holdings devalued in the marketplace to zero.There is no place for the Japanese to go to borrow the money. The US debt is now totally out of control, the Chinese depend on the US consumer to buy Chinese products but our true unemployment is at 13-14% and families no longer have expendable dollars. The EU is about to fold their tent and call it a failed experiment with the PIIGS in deep tr5ouble and Germany and France unable to carry their burden. In fact the animus is building in Europe similar to the feelings displayed in the 1020's and early 1930's........the "you owe me this and that"
The very real prospect of Japan selling our debt and the Chinese following will finish off the USA. We will face a Depression darker than the dog poop you stepped in last night in the dark...barefooted.So you add it all up and you have another world war, because that is what has happened in times like this throughout history.There is no way out, the exogenous earthquake and subsequent ongoing nuclear disaster spells the death of our system as well.
Thom| 3.30.11 @ 6:46PM
Pretty much on track at some levels.
We have been playing a very dangerous game of musical chairs and the music is going to stop at some point…. Someone is going to be left holding the “bag” of worthless notes…..
No one wants to grasp the fact that our spending is all about subsidizing sloths at one level or the other and there just isn’t enough people willing to keep supporting that portion of our population be they over paid government or union workers or welfare recipients. The entitlement class produces nothing the rest of the world wants…..and we’ve sucked the life out of the world’s GDP so our fall will bring genuine darkness to the rest of the world and what rises out of that is something we’ve seen before….
Nunya| 3.30.11 @ 9:56PM
God help us all.
Buy gold if you can, silver otherwise, and LEAD (i.e., Pb). It's going to get a LOT worse before it gets better, and our current Idiot in Chief is leading the way...
Tony in Central PA| 3.30.11 @ 9:27PM
We've got a federal gov't running annual trilion and a half dollar deficits and they can't even agree on cutting measly 60 billion. Its hard not to be totally pessimistic.
Our federal government has so many bad policies and programs it would take a decade of furious cuts to ward off default.
CalMark| 3.31.11 @ 2:54AM
This is so easy. But the Democrats are corrupt and evil, and the Republicans are a little corrupt and a lot cowardly.
The country was doing just fine in 2005 with "small" (relatively) deficits of less than $200 billion per year. Just cut $1.5 trillion off the budget. Easy. What do you cut? Everything that wasn't being funded in 2005.
The Republic is dying. That's the Democrats' goal, and the Republicans seem all too happy to help them.
Ted Kennedy's Ghost| 3.31.11 @ 1:41PM
We're doomed. In a few years, we'll be back to living like they did in the pre-industrial revolution days.
Gavin Lewis| 3.31.11 @ 4:58PM
I live in a country where Keynesian orthodoxy reigns. The benefit for parties on the left is that by keeping growth low, they can increase individual dependency on the state, and thus their own hold on power . They have a captive electorate which soon loses the confidence and the will to work. Eventually the money will run out, but from a politicians' perspective, a 20 year run is good enough to build a career and retire wealthy, invested in other countries. And the whole thing can be spun as a heroic anti - imperialism/globalisation sacrifice.
idgafkurt| 3.31.11 @ 5:12PM
Keynesian Theory doesn't have to work and you can't disprove it to Liberals no matter how much common sense, modern economic theory you use. It's inbreeded in their Progressive genes that somehow a collectivist society can work economically and JM Keynes gave them a hypothesis, no matter how wrong, of how this nirvana can happen. If Keynesian Theory is wrong so goes all their socialist/communist utopian dreams and thus so long as Libs exist so will failed Keynesian economic theory...
Rick| 3.31.11 @ 10:19PM
Your a rasist!
Dee See| 4.1.11 @ 7:45AM
---This column is sounding distinctly delusional
as POST American reality looms all about us.
MEANWHILE ---have a real nostalgic splurge
and get that HUAC meets NUREMBERG cooking.
THIS IS NOT A JOKE
Creative Recreation | 8.10.11 @ 11:10PM
is good