“What are the odds that the media will understand that the true problem is not that Obama is to blame or that Obama is our savior, but that this economy is the reckoning of 30+ years of bad government policy by both parties, and is not some transient moment?”
I just don’t understand why Brad – a libertarian – felt compelled to limit the scope of his question to the last 30+ years.
Mark of New Jersey
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on Huffpo reports that Harris internals *NEVER* had her ahead.He's right. What operation trusts big decisions like that to someone fresh out of college?
on I Told You SoI have a sneaking suspicion you mean "driven out in cars or other vehicles" which, har har, but you… on Huffpo reports that Harris internals *NEVER* had her ahead.The inflation theory is pretty solid considering that incumbent administrations, left, right, center…
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on Huffpo reports that Harris internals *NEVER* had her ahead.He's been saying that sort of thing for years. Probably right about it too.
on Huffpo reports that Harris internals *NEVER* had her ahead.Here's James Carville 's take. I found it hilarious and frankly, on point--assuming it's real. Still…
on Huffpo reports that Harris internals *NEVER* had her ahead.The Tories in the UK got thrased because of inflation in July of 2024. Japan's Liberal Democratic Pa…
on I Told You Soand some picks that we knew were probably in the mix such as Tom Homan who, apparently, worked for O…
on Huffpo reports that Harris internals *NEVER* had her ahead.Do you have a solid reference for exit poll results with demographic breakdowns. I'd like us to be o…
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on Huffpo reports that Harris internals *NEVER* had her ahead. on I Told You So on Huffpo reports that Harris internals *NEVER* had her ahead.
on I Told You So on I Told You So on I Told You So on Huffpo reports that Harris internals *NEVER* had her ahead. on I Told You So on Open Mic for the week of 11/25/2024 on Huffpo reports that Harris internals *NEVER* had her ahead. on I Told You So on Huffpo reports that Harris internals *NEVER* had her ahead. on I Told You So
on I Told You So on I Told You So
Perhaps he’s a huge fan of Nixon, Ford, and/or Carter? Seriously, depending upon your politics, you can push back the start date for “bad government policy” pretty much to day one.
If I were to guess, I would venture that his choice of time frame is largely inspired by the national debt.Report
Mark,
Thanks for the link (and the question). Yes, 30 years is pretty arbitrary, and part of me is still not remembering it’s actually 2010 and 1971 (when Nixon closed the gold window) was actually 39 years ago, not 30. That was the final nail in the coffin of any reasonable restraint on money creation, and was a major enabler of the big-government of Nixon and beyond.
Bear in mind, I don’t choose that as the beginning of the end of limited government (I’d say that was battered during the progressive movement of 1910-1930 and finally destroyed by the New Deal). But I do think the current debt-fueled insanity of easing money creation every time the economy got a case of the sniffles largely grew out of and was enabled by Nixon’s actions.Report
This answers my question perfectly, Brad. Thanks.Report
When you don’t limit it to 30 (or 50) years, you begin to start to sound crazy.
“THIS GOES BACK TO THOMAS JEFFERSON MAKING THE LOUISIANA PURCHASE!!!”
“IF THE MAGNA CARTA WASN’T A HALF-ASSED COMPROMISE, WE WOULDN’T HAVE THESE PROBLEMS!!!”
“FUCKING CONSTANTINE!!!!”Report
I dunno, that last one still has some oomph.Report
“Many were increasingly of the opinion that they’d all made a big mistake in coming down from the trees in the first place. And some said that even the trees had been a bad move, and that no one should ever have left the oceans.”Report
Interesting how that statement — limited to just what is quoted — would probably be agreed to by about 95% of the electorate right now. Maybe liberals even more vehemently than libertarians (maybe not — not try to start a pissing contest here!).Report
Indeed. Alas, 95% of the electorate doesn’t live inside the Beltway, and it’s probably too much to ask for the folks who do live inside the Beltway to acknowledge that they, collectively, have caused these problems, not just George Bush, not just Barack Obama, etc., and that as such no one person or small group of persons is going to fix things.Report
Ultimately though haven’t we all caused the problems? I mean sure the beltway folks are bastards, but does no blame fall to the people in general who scream for lower taxes and then scream for more goodies and then elect the politician who panders to them the most?Report
According to some people, the answer to that is “no, people who vote for Republicans have no responsibility for these problems, it’s the people who complain about the Republicans who actually imposed these policies and then stop voting the GOP party-line that are the problem.”Report
Uh but the republicans have deficit spent worse than the Democrats in the last 40 years! For heavens sake look at Bush Minor. He threw down the cash for two wars in the Middle East and Asia as well as a huge unfunded prescription drug benefit. Do I make him pay for my hobbies?
Now of course the Dems wrote the book on spending in the beginning. There’s no denying that. I’m just saying that bad fiscal governance is very much bipartisan and more over it’s national. None of these bums have been thrown out for fiscal misbehavior yet by the voters. Hmm except perhaps Bush senior.Report
“Donny, you’re out of your element!”
This was meant as a tongue-in-cheek reference to another thread.Report
I’ve been following it but I’ve kept out, good on you for keeping your temper. He really is a true believer; I can almost admire it in a perverse sort of way.Report
I blame gun control laws.Report
Now of course the Dems wrote the book on spending in the beginning. There’s no denying that. I’m just saying that bad fiscal governance is very much bipartisan
That is, the pre-Reagan Republicans were teetotalers, Democrats social drinkers and Republicans since Reagan raging alcoholics, so clearly drunkenness is a bipartisan problem.Report
North,
What is this “we” that you speak of? I scream for lower taxes and less goodies, and in general for the government to leave me the hell alone. In fact, I spend a good portion of time blogging about the unintended consequences of actions our government is proposing, and how they will be ineffective and/or damaging.
Unfortunately, the policies that Republicans and Democrats vote for are also applied to me, regardless of whether or not I wanted them. This is true, even when the unintended and damaging consequences of those policies that I myself predicted become reality.
The only “we” here is the sad truth that what “you” vote for is also thrust on me, whether I like it or not.Report
Sorry, until you are elected God and thrust the policies you want on everyone else or you move to an island to form your nation of one, you are still part of the “we”. That’s how democracy works.Report
“Wait, I didn’t mean that you’d get to tell *ME* how to live! I meant that I’d get to tell *YOU* how to live!”Report
Brad, the “We” was a very very broad we. Please don’t feel it’s directed specifically at you. But the facts are unkind. The beltway folks do not elect the politicians. They do not control public opinion. The rest of the country can’t blame the whole mess on the beltway. We elect them. We punish them for telling hard truths (they don’t get elected). We reward them for mouthing vague platitudes but we penalize them when they get specific.Report
I can’t remember the last time a politician pandered to me.
Maybe Jeff Flake.Report
Oh, I can think of plenty of politicians who have pandered to me, Jay. It’s just that their pandering only lasts as long as they’re in front of the cameras.Report
Well, sticking with those of us in this thread, we’re a bunch of overeducated weirdos. Pandering to any of us is useless.Report
Yeah there’s not enough of us. *sigh*Report
We began running up large balance of payments deficits on current account in 1981/82. The habit of running public sector deficits in the absence of general warfare or economic recession dates from 1961.Report
The habit of running public sector deficits in the absence of general warfare or economic recession dates from 1961.
Except that there was a recession in 1961, and the Kennedy tax cut was intended to counter it.Report
The recession was in 1960. IIRC, the tax cut to which you refer was proposed by Kennedy but not enacted until 1964. Recessions induce a reduction in tax revenue and increased claims for unemployment compensation – i.e. deficit spending. I would not assume that discretionary tax cuts were advisable.Report