"In fact, future historians will probably look back at the 2010 election as a catastrophe for America, one that condemned the nation to years of political chaos and economic weakness."
He concludes: "So if the elections go as expected next week, here’s my advice: Be afraid. Be very afraid."
Hey, wait, I thought it was Democrats who liked to say Republicans are trying to scare us. Now, it's just Republicans are scary, and we hope you believe that they're scary to everyone, and not just to Democrats.
October 29, 2010
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130 comments:
How long until we can stop treating Krugman like he matters? The man is ALWAYS wrong.
Krugman is a martingale guy.
Double down is his middle name.
Paul "Double Down" Krugman.
(the other kev)
And he can prove there was a duplicate key to the icebox!
Beat the Rangers.
Now, the government shutdown ended up hurting Republicans politically, and some observers seem to assume that memories of that experience will deter the G.O.P. from being too confrontational this time around. But the lesson current Republicans seem to have drawn from 1995 isn’t that they were too confrontational, it’s that they weren’t confrontational enough.
Well, he's wrong on the first point and the second just sounds like the flipside of the argument that the stimulus was big enough. Fail.
Maybe Krugman should stick to his area of specialty--trade issues--and leave the prophecy, politicizing, and hysterics to professionals.
Coketown wrote: Maybe Krugman should stick to his area of specialty--trade issues--and leave the prophecy, politicizing, and hysterics to professionals.
Everyone needs a hobby.
Krugman is more than a little verklempt.
Is he the guy that they stepped on his head?
The whole "THEY, not US, are totally using fear to manipulate you" line has always been hilarious.
Since it is, of course, always accompanied with the most ridiculous fear-mongering about THEM.
Does this mean that college professors and columnists like Paul Krugman will now begin to appreciate the Second Amendment as something more than a sordid invention that the NRA telepathically transported back in time into the brain of James Madison when he was writing the Bill of Rights?
"Be afraid. Be very afraid."
Makes sense for anyone in California, with the prospect of Governor Moonbeam returning to work with all the lefty loons in the Dem legislature. He can pick up where he left off decades ago and make California even more impossible as a place to do business. Just the team to solve California's problems. If that had been Krugman's topic, it might make sense. Too bad that Krugman had something else in mind.
Krugman fancies himself a Linus Pauling, but really he's just hawking vitamin-C enriched Kool-Aid.
Congress's Approval Rating will not go up after the Election.
Be fun to see all the far left liberal kooks trying to restore sanity tomorrow.
"Congress's Approval Rating will not go up after the Election"
Wrong, but irrelevant anyway.
The salient matter is if it will be up or down from where it is now in 2 years. I'll bet down for then.
But in 3 months? It'll be higher than it is now.
"So if the elections go as expected next week, here’s my advice: Be afraid. Be very afraid."
You know its too bad that the NTY can't imbed a wav file at the end of the article. It would have had so much more impact with some Dark Shadows theme music.
As to Ann's comments, it would be an interesting observation if she handn't done that silly ..."I thought it was the Republicans....".
With that note, she equates Krugman with the knuckledragging brownshirts like Glenn Beck.
but then again what do the republicans care as long as they can blame someone else.
i mean if you want Rove, boehner and mcconnel urged on by Rush, Glenn and Sean out in front of your party...well good luck.
AJ Lynch said...
My wife is In DC for a conference this weekend. I'm not sure if she's going to have the time, but I asked her to try to get to the Mall and take a few pics.
I can't wait to see the crowd of losers and malcontents with all their stupid signs and costumes making a huge mess and screaming incoherently at every punchline.
Liberals in large groups always beclown themselves, they just can't help it.
Krugman is just being a pissy little man because people are not buying into his spend spend spend economic theory.
If you disagree with him you must be a knuckle dragging mouth breathing tea party nazi. Not one iota of consideration is EVER given by the self annointed elitist that we should CUT spending.
Pissant. He should be afraid. His theories are crap and have been discredited by real world experience.
If the Republicans get in and DO begin to cooperate in the continued destriction of this country, there WILL be Hell to pay.
El Pollo Real said...
"Krugman fancies himself a Linus Pauling, but really he's just hawking vitamin-C enriched Kool-Aid."
"GRAPE [vitamin-C enriched Kool-Aid]! I'm gonna get grape, or cherry. They're both... favorites, so either one is good, but if they have both, I'll get grape, because grape is a little more favorite. But if they don't have grape it's like alright its fine, cause cherry's favorite anyway. It's like another favorite, but not as much. Not as much favorite. But they're both good. They're both good."
but then again what do the republicans care as long as they can blame someone else.
Said HD with incredible cognitive dissonance if one bears in mind all the of blaming your erstwhile party has been doing this past couple of years. Tacitly claiming the Democrats have some sort of whining high-ground is damned near the funniest thing you've ever wrote here, HD.
Krugman is practicing insect politics:
http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/be%20afraid,%20be%20very%20afraid.html
I think shake and bake is an Islander fan.
Well Potvan beats his wife.
Remember what the HenHouse said:
Muslims are the new Jews!
That, I think, tells you everything you need to know about that knucklehead.
Krugman needs a radio show to be an efficient fearmonger -- either three hours a day, Monday through Friday, or a half-hour at 10pm a la Inner Sanctum or Lights Out.
"Who knows... what weakness... lies at the heart of the Economy?
The Krugman knows... Ha hahaha HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHA!"
John Richardson said...
"..Krugman will now begin to appreciate the Second Amendment as something more than a sordid invention that the NRA telepathically transported back in time into the brain of James Madison when he was writing the Bill of Rights?"
Sordid? yes.
Stupidly interpreted? yup.
Distorted? ya'betcha!
.....For every nut a gun and for every gun a nut....
And, by the way, HenHouse, I don't want to deprive you of your glory.
I still think that's got to be in the top five of the fucking dumbest statements ever uttered in the history of the internet.
Congratulations! When you shit your pants, you really fill them up!
" HDHouse said...
As to Ann's comments, it would be an interesting observation if she handn't done that silly ..."I thought it was the Republicans....".
With that note, she equates Krugman with the knuckledragging brownshirts like Glenn Beck."
So to recap comparing commentators with different levels of seriousness is so completely inappropriate it outweighs all else, but comparing a political commentator to supporters of a mass mudering racist is ok.
Clearly an idiot, but the tone of superiority is wonderful.
"Who knows... what weakness... lies at the heart of the Economy?
The Krugman knows... Ha hahaha HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHA!"
Obscure classic radio references will get you everywhere.
Krugman looks like a weasel, and is headed for the Smug Asshole Hall of Fame.
As usual, the blogger lady misses a big story because it is not about politcal bullshit.
There is a lot more to life than what Paul Fuckin Krugman or that douche lord Jon Stewart have to say.
Sharpen up.
In fact, future historians will probably look back at the 2010 election as a catastrophe for America, one that condemned the nation to years of political chaos and economic weakness.
Translation:
People I don't like will be in office.
Policies I don't like will be enacted.
He could have skipped the histrionics. But, he's trying to scare Democrats into voting.
The politics of fear!
Marshal said...
"...but comparing a political commentator to supporters of a mass mudering racist is ok."
I thought Beck was just a racist. I'll look into the mass murdering thing after lunch.
Plus you missed the whole thing where Lisa from the "Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" tortured her dog by putting him in all these costumes on "Watch What Happens Now."
Have you no dencency missy?
hdhouse - still sitting in full depends, still lying about everything.
Tell us again about the Corvette in My Cousin Vinny, hd, you have such an entertaining delusional view of the world.
And the fact that you cheat on your taxes speaks volumes about how much you love government and honesty.
And your patent fantasies never grow old - please tell us more about all your fabulous inventions.
"Krugman needs a radio show to be an efficient fearmonger -- either three hours a day, Monday through Friday, or a half-hour at 10pm a la Inner Sanctum or Lights Out."
No one will listen to a liberal talk for that long and you know it.
... we hope you believe that they're scary to everyone, and not just to Democrats.
If you're going to use "we" then why didn't you complete the thought and put the word "us" in front of Democrats?
There goes HD House again, mormalizing Hitler supporters.
Last week it was unconscionable to reenact Nazis because the group minimized the SS's actions. But we've always known HD's definition of right and wrong is 100% dependent on whether the accused agrees with his political opinions. It's revealing he believes he's closer to Hitler than Beck though.
He's probably right.
I thought Beck was just a racist. I'll look into the mass murdering thing after lunch.
Speaking of racism, did you hear Obama exhorting Latinos to punish his enemies? I know he's a hateful prick, but siccing an entire race of people on his political opponents is a new low.
Thank God he's only got two more (hopefully impotent) years left before we can start the process of forgetting that the bozo ever sullied the Oval Office.
"Who knows... what weakness... lies at the heart of the Economy?
The Krugman knows... Ha hahaha HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHA!"
Obscure classic radio references will get you everywhere.
I second that motion.
I don't think anyone wants to read the left media any longer. I don't even open the New York Times. I don't turn on NPR. I saw a hilarious piece on Public Tv last night about how wonderful Portland, Oregon's urban planning is, but it was nonsense. Portland is a nightmare especially if you go to the perimeter. I can't even explain what's happened there: Beaverton Oregon which is ten miles to the west of Portland went from 6000 to 200,000 residents in 20 years because people wanted the proximity to beautifully planned Portland. So you get a crazy chaos of three lines going to one and back again all over Beaverton and the traffic flow is not.
They paved all the meadows for parking lots and so the few remaining creeks flood even when there's a trickle of rain.
Portland is nice, but all around it are planning nightmares. They left those out of the documentary.
It's PBS. Public b-shit.
Leftists want to turn this country into North Korea.
Thank goodness for the Tea Party.
The left is like Popeye's friend Wimpy -- I'll pay you Thursday for a hamburger today!
Constantly borrowing from the future while staggering the load onto an increasingly smaller indusrial base, and on the backs of the few remaining entrepreneurs while they plan away in their merry little cubicles of communist daydreams.
(The Crypto Jew)
I thought Beck was just a racist. I'll look into the mass murdering thing after lunch.
Did you hear about the plan to push the Black Guy out for a Rich White Guy, oh yeah that doesn’t count because that was the Democrats doing that. That would be throwing Kendrick Meek under the bus for Charlie Crist, but since it’s “Bubba”-wonder if he had Kendrick fetch him some coffee before that sat down-and it’s the right party, no one should care I guess.
Speaking of racism, did you hear Obama exhorting Latinos to punish his enemies?
Frankly to me this is jaw dropping coming from the President of the United States. I mean not the singling out the support of a specific demographic but that I, as an American citizen and voter who disagrees with the Administrations policies is now viewed as the enemy.
"I know [Obama's] a hateful prick, but siccing an entire race of people on his political opponents is a new low."
By Any Means Necessary isn't just a group. It's a mantra for the left, particularly on campus and among political activists (aka community organizers). And where has Obama spent his life?
The only surprise is that he's so bad at hiding it. This weakness is probably because he's been out of that world so briefly he doesn't realize how many people think it unacceptable.
Any decent person would have never made the remark, and any intelligent person would have apologized after saying it. Obama is neither.
Without racial hatred, he has no career.
I'm in favor of an amendment to the constitution that will permit one (1) Bill of Attainder to kick Krugman's ass over to Norway or Sweden.
Consider it a (WV) judoflp
Didn't Obama just blame the electorate for being afraid? And now Krugman is telling us to be afraid?
The left really needs to get their message straight.
What makes Beck a racist, House?
What makes Beck a racist, House?
You don't know the rules.
Rule #1: Anybody who disagrees with anything a liberal says is a racist.
Rule #2: Refer to Rule #1.
Lincoltf:
The biggest, far left lib in our office will be there.
She is one of those who kept her Kerry-Edwards bumper sticker on her car for 4 years!
With that note, she equates Krugman with the knuckledragging brownshirts like Glenn Beck.
If the straitjacket fits...
TRO said "No one will listen to a liberal talk for that long and you know it."
You hit the nail on the head. Liberal talk radio and Liberal TV doesn't work very well because there isn't enough dissatisfaction to play off of. And that is the case not only in America, but in large parts of the world.
Part of the reason for that is: Some of the most significant SOCIAL changes in the past 100 years have been victories for the concept of liberalism and progressivism - including the civil rights act in the US, banning of Apartheid in South Africa, banning of clitoral mutilation in some african nations (not yet all, unfortunately), A stronger environmental consciousness all over the world, increased gay rights - etc etc.
The world is (despite the longing of some people for the good old days), a much more peaceful place, with a lot of equitable opportunities for different types of people than it used to be a 100 years ago, or even 50 years ago. In most ways, I think, the world is a MUCH better place now that it used to be. Freedom of expression is at an all time high, thanks to the internet.
In a situation like that, it is hard for talk radio to survive - one of the fuels needed for talk radio is anger or dissatisfaction. Anger might be too strong of a word...dissatisfaction is enough.
As a social liberal, I am pretty darned pleased at the direction the world has taken in my lifetime. Yes, there still remains a lot of progress to be made. Women are still oppressed all over the middle east, and even in India (where I am from). Gay people are still stoned in many parts of the world. Species are still going extinct despite there being well established ways of development which wouldn't result in widespread species annihilation (migration corridors, higher density residential planning, etc).
Still, things are getting better and better. Speaking for me - when I look back at my 34 years of life and see how MUCH better India (my country of origin) and America (my country of adoption) and the whole darned world has gotten - I have a really hard time getting mad.
And Americans should be proud, because, despite some significant exceptions, your country has been one of the biggest engines of that betterment, of that progress.
(Yes, yes, I know the whole world likes to criticize america - but lets face it. That is the price you pay for being the 'pole' in a unipolar world)
In fact, future historians will probably look back at the 2010 election as a catastrophe for America, one that condemned the nation to years of political chaos and economic weakness.
I must say this is one of my all time favorite rhetorical tricks: the appeal to authority, while choosing an authority that couldn't possibly speak for themselves because they don't even exist yet.
"this is going to be terrible.....er I mean wonderful when baby boomers like Krugman are finally retired and Americans are safe from his liberal, redistributionist schemes"
There Paul, I fixed it for you.
I agree with Ignorance_Is_bliss. It sounds a lot like "Future generations will look back and recognize how great of a president George W Bush was".
I mean wonderful when baby boomers like Krugman are finally retired
HOWARD JOHNSON IS RIGHT!!!
Wow! After doing my early voting this morning (straight Republican ticket on all partisan races), I feel like Freddy Krueger!
Scream, Krugman, scream!
Bwahahahahaha!
Scott M:
I did not get your Hojo comment? Let me in in the joke- I am sure it's a good one.
HOWARD JOHNSON IS RIGHT!!!
Well AJ he always said the Phillies suck. But he sucked as a batting coach and now they are demoting him to manager of the Cyclones when they bring Wally Backman up to be third base coach.
As a response to a thoughtful comment, that was dumb and vapid.
You ignored Krugman's core points: 1) Republicans will spend the net two years trying to drive Obama from office -- not trying to address the nation's problems.
2) Republicans have vowed not to cooperate or compromise - they want everything their way.
3) Our economy is in a fragile state and not likely to weather this mischief well.
Republicans want to reinstate the same damn policies that wrecked the economy to begin with. They don't give a rat's ass about the nation's problems, only in stomping on the heads of anyone who opposes them.
And the Tea Party is even worses
Hard fact of life for Rs and TPs:
"In 2008, we lost an average of 317,250 private sector jobs per month. In 2010, we have gained an average of 95,888 private sector jobs per month."
In 2008 we reaped the bitter fruit of failed Republican policies.
In 2010 we are still recovering from those failed Republican policies.
Trickle down economics: FAIL.
So Republicans want to do it some more.
Regulation: FAIL.
So Republicans want to keep deregulating.
Low wage policies: FAIL.
So Republicans want to keep wages down and keep giving tax breaks for companies that outsource jobs.
Unemployment prior to Democratic takeover in 2006: 4.4%.
Republicans are just crazy. They want to keep repeating failed policies.
Though, in their defense, their policies have enriched the upper 2% quite handsomely, so it is only a FAIL for the lower 98% or so.
Which is a success for Republicans.
AlphaLiberal:
OMAR MINAYA WAS RIGHT!!!!!!!!
I did not get your Hojo comment? Let me in in the joke- I am sure it's a good one.
"Blazing Saddles" reference. You should be able to find the clip on youtube with that phrase.
1) Republicans will spend the net two years trying to drive Obama from office -- not trying to address the nation's problems.
But that is addressing the nation's problem.
Omega, you didn't say anything about Republicans being racists.
You want to take another stab at it?
@Ankur: As I understand it, Nehru adapted the policies of the Fabian socialists and thus condemned several generations of Indians to poverty. The great leap forward in India came when they adapted free market principles.....Historians usually write about the successes of progressivism and ignore their failures.
Trickle-down economics is not an economic plan. It's an undeniable principle. It's like breathing. Anyone who has ever run a business knows this innately.
I wonder why Alpha's "Hard Fact's of Life" don't include 2009. While copying others' talking points did he foget there's a year in between?
Anyway, it's hilarious that someone whose only goal is to repeat the phrase "Republican Fail" as many times as possible has the moxie to accuse others of not arguing in good faith.
Republicans have vowed not to cooperate or compromise - they want everything their way.
Does "We won" sound familiar?
Ankur, I have a problem with my Dell computer.
I will call you on the help line.
Thanks buddy.
Krugman writes like an economist. A declarative sentence is foreign to him. He is not interesting to read......On television, he looks shifty and uneasy--like a registered sex offender at the cheerleader tryouts.
William, you are exactly right. However: Context - India, in 1947, was just gaining independence from one of the biggest capitalistic machines the world has ever seen - mercantilist colonial britain. And this form of capitalism brooked no resistance. So yes, Nehru's (and at that time, the rest of India's) inclination was towards socialism which helped curb the chaos in the beginning, but soon became an unbearable weight.
You will be interested to know that the political party that Nehru was part of was the same political party that kick-started India's economic resurgance in the 90s. The finance minister at the time, who basically turned the ship around, was called Manmohan Singh, who incidentally, is the prime minister now.
This is also the political party that is the "liberal" or "Left" wing in Indian politics.
I think, the point is - good economic policy needs to be context dependent, not ideology dependent. Nehru's socialism was a good thing for the first five years when it was needed to bring the country together. It should have been dispensed with in 1962, after the border war with China - but it stuck around for 30 more years. In economics, as in many aspects of policy, it is harder to pick the right transition timing than it is to pick a side.
Can't wait to receive your call, Trooper York. Remember though, when I pick up the phone, my name will be James and I will be trying my hardest to fake a cornfed midwestern accent.
You're welcome.
"Blazing Saddles" reference. You should be able to find the clip on youtube with that phrase.
On a quick pass, I couldn't find it. Basically it means agreeing with someone without adding anything of substance in support. In the clip, the guy just stands up, says that Howard Johnson (they are all named Johnson) is right and sits back down.
Thanks Ankur. I need a lot of help. I can't keep my hard drive...well hard. It turned into a floppy.
Republicans will spend the net two years trying to drive Obama from office -- not trying to address the nation's problems.
Obama and his policies ARE the nation's problems. Instead of treating just the symptoms and slapping another bandaid over the festering pustle of progressive socialistic liberalism, we need to lance the boil, cure the disease, eradicate the cancer and possibly even amputate a bit.
Thanks Ankur. I need a lot of help. I can't keep my hard drive...well hard. It turned into a floppy
That's what you get for only having the 4.25 inch drive...
There are two kinds of floppies - the 3.5 inch version and the 5.25 inch version. Which kind is yours?
Although, I have to say...the 5.25 inch version is EVEN more obsolete than the 3.5. They don't use those for even for booting.
D'oh...5.25 inc, not 4.25. I hate it when snark fails...
the 5.25 inch version is EVEN more obsolete than the 3.5.
Ha ha. I have a bunch of those. I took some of them out of the casing and made a wall art/collage with them and many obsolete chips and barious pieces op mother boards and video board sets. Very fun to look at.
1) Republicans will spend the net two years trying to drive Obama from office -- not trying to address the nation's problems.
Well, aside from the fact that I think this actually is a contradictory statement-- why should we consider this to be any different from any other midterm election?
What's new?
Can we surmise that this is why the economy crashed the last two years of the Bush administration?
The Democratic Congress was too busy trying to drive Bush from office to focus on the problems they now claim *he* should have seen coming?
Washington DC is the problem, not a source of solutions.
Gridlock will reassure business that nothing disruptive will come out of DC for at least two years. They will start spending and investing the cash they have, until now, been sitting on.
Obama will naturally take credit for the resulting economic recovery and probably get re-elected on that "record".
Obama and his policies ARE the nation's problems.
dbq forgets September 2008, when Bush was like last night's Rangers relief pitchers, helpless to do anything but walk runs in.
Obama has destroyed what was left of our confidence in our economic future! How many times do I have to say that Mr. Krugman?
And it seems you don't understand that very few of us have a tenured, high-paying job with a far left liberal echo chamber!
wv= crookh
Krugman could never succeed as a fear merchant. I have never seen someone whose natural expression was so hunted as his.
HDHouse said...
With that note, she equates Krugman with the knuckledragging brownshirts like Glenn Beck.
No, all his people wear red, white, and blue. You know, those colors that make Lefties feel all creepy.
but then again what do the republicans care as long as they can blame someone else.
No, that's The Zero's thing.
AlphaLiberal said...
As a response to a thoughtful comment, that was dumb and vapid.
You ignored Krugman's core points: 1) Republicans will spend the net two years trying to drive Obama from office --
And this is bad, how?
Republicans are just crazy. They want to keep repeating failed policies.
Though, in their defense, their policies have enriched the upper 2% quite handsomely
That's why all the big banks have been giving to the Demos for 20 years.
Scott M said...
"Blazing Saddles" reference. You should be able to find the clip on youtube with that phrase.
On a quick pass, I couldn't find it. Basically it means agreeing with someone without adding anything of substance in support. In the clip, the guy just stands up, says that Howard Johnson (they are all named Johnson) is right and sits back down.
And the next one says, "Dr Samuel Johnson is right!", and the next one, "Van Johnson is right!", and the next, "Olsen Johnson is right!"...
Paul Krugman says "This is going to be terrible."
Flounder just emailed me and said "this is gonna be great!"
Future historians will say, "Krugman, who is that?"
Scott M --
"That's what you get for only having the 4.25 inch drive..."
With current prices, everyone who wants one can now have a solid state.
No, it's "Thank you Van" with the last name unsaid.
Sordid? yes.
Stupidly interpreted? yup.
Distorted? ya'betcha!
Nice to know HenHouse is solidly anti-2nd amendment. Heaven forbid normal Americans have firearms to defend their home and loved ones from vicious, evil criminals.
I thought Beck was just a racist. I'll look into the mass murdering thing after lunch.
HenHouse needs more meds.
One truism to always keep in mind. Whatever AL/HenHouse/jeremy/garage accuse conservatives they are guilty of. Projection - thy name is LEFTIST.
Alpha - please read this Heritage Foundation piece of how to cut the budget.
How to cut $343 billion
So stop saying conservatives lack ideas. We are FULL of ideas.
Do you smell that? Yea, baby!
Is it really hard to cut spending in an organization with as much waste as the Federal government ...really? It's rife with it, and everyone knows it.
Even liberals should be looking for ways to cut wasted spending, so they can accomplish more of their goals per dollar of tax revenue. But they act like it's impossible, immoral and strictly good for conservatives.
Why is that?
I would like to see some support for this thesis:
Many current government functions could be performed more efficiently by the private sector.
My impression is that government contractors cost more than government employees doing the same job. And when it comes to military contracting, they often had been doing the same job, at a lot lower price.
We made huge improvements in the deficit with a Repub Congress under Clinton. What the hell is he hyperventilating about. It's embarrassing for a grown man. I doubt he believes his own crap.
I didn't even notice: the Heritage Foundation wants death panels for those who served honorably defending our nation.
FLS, The fact that the government almost never permits private industry to compete with it should be some indication.
Imagine the Dept of Motor Vehicles trying to replace Wallmart, and imagine if Wallmart ran the DMV. I know which I would prefer.
Many current government functions could be performed more efficiently by the private sector
You can cancel or not renew a private contractor if he doesn't perform or the job is done, and he can fire his employees if they sit on their asses all day. The invisible hand will push him do things as efficiently as government regs allow.
Well, maybe if the democrats had not acted as communists the election results, regardless of what America's Asshole says, might be different.
Or, conversely, if AP is correct and the democrats win big - then more power to them - they spent the stimulus money well and bought the right people.
Judging from only post title, I gather that Paul Krugman thinks the Dems are going to win.
I hope the new Congress pisses off a lot of people. There are a lot who need to be told "NO" and they, of course, will not like it.
We need to be saying yes to the productive and no to the nonproductive. Then people might get the idea that being productive is preferable, and find out that they are quite capable of being so. We have so many who have never even tried, generations now. It's immoral to rob people of their challenges. To paraphrase one of my favorite movie lines: "When you coddle a man, you take everything he has and everything he ever will have."
I wouldn't mind starting an all-classical radio station in my market, playing 24/7. I would be competing, however, with an NPR affiliate which plays a few hours of classical a day to suck in its target audience for donations. I wouldn't stand a chance against that despite the fact that their programming is uninspired. If they were left to their own they would fail and I could do a private deal that would be of very high quality with no yak yak about politics or building water wells in Mali. Just classical music interrupted occasionally by highly profitable commercials.
Germany who did not participate in its own bailout to cries of "foul" from the international community now has the lowest unemployment in decades.
You can cancel or not renew a private contractor if he doesn't perform or the job is done
In theory.
In practice we're still shoveling money at DynCorp, Blackwater/Xe, and Halliburton, completely ignoring their track records.
I wouldn't mind starting an all-classical radio station in my market, playing 24/7.
Quickest way to go broke I know of, although all-jazz stations run it a close second. Thirty years ago, Chicago had three high quality classical stations. One became country, another classic rock. The survivor is a listener-supported non-profit.
You can cancel or not renew a private contractor if he doesn't perform or the job is done
In theory.
In practice we're still shoveling money at DynCorp, Blackwater/Xe, and Halliburton, completely ignoring their track records.
But again, this is a problem with governments, and, in particular, the fascist sort of socialism practiced primarily by the statists on the left right now (though the Republicans, esp. under Bush weren't exempt from this).
The problem is crony capitalism. This is what made the trains run on time for a couple years in Italy, and provided the Third Reich with decent armaments. And, indeed, the communist type of socialism also works decently for short periods of time when you are trying to produce millions of guns and tens of thousands of tanks.
But, ultimately, what goes wrong is that the government leaders gets too tight with the companies doing its bidding, and the graft, corruption, and inefficiency end up grossly overcoming any benefits you might have had.
So, I will admit that sometimes government employees can do a more efficient job than government contractors, and sometimes a less efficient job.
But, that is not really the issue. Rather, the issue should be whether that function should have been taken over by the government in the first place. And, almost invariably, when you compare a function done by the government in one town, either directly or through contractors, and done privately in the next, the private solution is almost always significantly more efficient and ultimately cheaper.
Government employees are inefficient because they don't have a bottom line, except for their own self-benefit. And government contractors are inefficient because they have to deal with government regulations (such as Davis Bacon, as just one), and, because government contracting invariably results in rent seeking and crony capitalism, where the successful government contractors spend their money on buying influence in order to sell the government inferior goods and services at inflated prices.
Alphaliberal: "Trickle down economics: FAIL"
Thomas Sowell on 'Trickle Down' Theory: "[...]no recognized economist of any school of thought has sever had any such theory.... It is a straw man. It cannot be found in even the most voluminous and learned histories of economic theories." (Basic Economics: page 388).
"In 2008, we lost an average of 317,250 private sector jobs per month. In 2010, we have gained an average of 95,888 private sector jobs per month."
In 2008 we reaped the bitter fruit of failed Republican policies.
In 2010 we are still recovering from those failed Republican policies.
Plain silly, if you ask me.
But the what AL is intentionally ignoring here is which party controlled Congress in 2008? After all, all the President can really do is sign or veto bills and appoint the political levels at the various government departments and agencies. New laws come out of Congress, as well as, notably, all spending bills.
The other thing that AL is intentionally ignoring is what was going on in 2008. The failed policies that triggered the recession weren't those of the Republicans, but those of the Democrats, notably Frank and Dodd, who were using everything at their disposal to force lenders to lend to people who couldn't afford the payments for the houses they were buying. And, at least Dodd, was in the pockets of the banks that were doing the lending, and then, the two of them made sure that the regulatory bill this year for financial institutions didn't apply to the companies that caused the problem in the first place.
Finally, recessions are normal. The problem with this one is its depth and breadth, and the Democrats had complete control over the two elected branches of government during the time that the economy should have been recovering much more quickly, by historical standards. Why didn't it? Well, one of the prime culprits is probably former Enron adviser Paul Krugman, who keeps to this day pushing the same failed economic policies that deepened and greatly lengthened the Great Depression.
Krugman is hardly alone in this assessment. The MJS in its endorsement of Feingold over Johnson had this to say: In Johnson, we do not see sufficient depth in his professional experience or his stated positions. In him, we fear, the nation will get one more senator who will disdain bipartisanship and compromise at a time when a deeply divided government needs both
The failed policies that triggered the recession weren't those of the Republicans
How soon they forget W.'s Ownership Society.
who keeps to this day pushing the same failed economic policies that deepened and greatly lengthened the Great Depression.
Hey, it's Amity Shlaes!
RV:
With all due respect to the MJS, bipartisanship is why we have a national debt of $10 Trillion plus trillion in the unfunded mandates for Medicare & social security?
I always thought the worst catastrophe for America was on February 3, 1913.
It turned us from a federation of states into a central government with states as political subdivisions, and made the growth of that central government inevitable.
There aren't many competitors left for large or specialized defense contracts, and security can make entering the market expensive and difficult.
My employer sells to 8 or 10 state and local govt agencies. Some are quite a pain to work with and get money out of, some aren't. NC State Univ. drives 60 miles to us, partly because they annoyed the local suppliers by taking months to pay their bills.
trillion in the unfunded mandates for Medicare & social security?
Reagan's blue ribbon Social Security commission recommended a 20% increase in Social Security tax to build up a surplus to make the system solvent till 2037, at least.
The problem is that Reagan used that money to fund his tax cuts for the rich.
Now that the baby boomers are starting to retire -- at age 66, not 65, another recommendation of the Reagan blue ribbon committee --
that money will have to be repaid from general revenues.
Naturally the well off who enjoyed tax breaks all this time resent the prospect of making the IOUs good.
Liberals turn every disagreement into race. If Patrick Duval loses in Massachusetts, they will blame it on the racist electorate. If Obama loses his house majority, that will be due to racist white voters too, especially those Pennsylvania blue collar workers who cling to their religion and guns.
I'm getting pretty tired of people who blame every political disagreement on racism, sexism, ageism, homeophobia, lookism, boobism, dickism, twatism and general fucked-up-ism. Sometimes a cigar really is a cigar.
How in the holy host of fuck did this guy win a Nobel for Economics? HOW? oh wait.
I am glad Krugman is scared for Halloween. Boo.
Krugman is a hack. In fact, I've set up my own blog attacking his writings:
http://paulkrugmaniswrong.blogspot.com/2010/10/divided-we-fail.html
Please check it out.
Krugman's work on trade theory is widely regarded as very solid.
It is a mystery how someone so smart can come to so many utterly wrong conclusions in areas outside of his expertise. Strange, but not uncommon.
Gawd , Reagan left office 22 years ago, the feds kept spending and spending social security taxes and according to FLS, it's all Reagan's fault! I suggest you take your partisan blinders off.
Krugman always has this hunted look lately. Probably because all his pet theories were actually put in place by Obama and they are failing dismally. He's being revealed as the idiot he has always been.
Reagan left office 22 years ago, the feds kept spending and spending social security taxes and according to FLS, it's all Reagan's fault! I suggest you take your partisan blinders off.
Conservative, heal thyself. Reagan gave us one set of income tax cuts and Bush jr. gave us another set. What's the result? Since 1980 everytime there's been a GOP President, the National Debt has grown. But out of 8 Clinton budgets, four ended the year in surplus (Constant 2005 dollars).
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