What He Says

Blogger Eric Bergeson conveys perfectly the frustration I feel about the stimulus package and the transparently hypocritical republicans... hence the cut and paste that follows! Thanks to Eric for expressing it as he does so well.

Fiscal responsibility

You know, I have had it with the sudden panic amongst Republicans that we suddenly should be fiscally restrained and that Obama is going to bankrupt us with the stimulus package, which, although I don't understand macro-economics, is favored by the bulk of economists as the best chance we have to get the economy going again.

Where were these people when George Bush pushed through the prescription drug benefit by lying to Congress about its estimated cost? He said it would cost $400 billion over ten years; the most recent estimate is that it will cost $1.2 trillion over that time span. The Comptroller General called it "the most fiscally irresponsible piece of legislation passed since the 1960s."

The whole drug benefit idea was cooked up by Karl Rove. It was pushed through, not because it was prudent or necessary--it was neither--but because it was a neat way of buying the votes of voters over 65. And it worked.

Why was there no uproar then amongst these same people? It is obvious. Welfare for white elderly people is okay, even if it busts the bank. I hear no comment on this from the same people who are whining now about spending on infrastructure.

The war in Iraq has cost upwards of one half trillion dollars. At the beginning, Rumsfeld and Cheney sold the war by saying that it would be quick, we would be welcomed as liberators and that the war would pay for itself with Iraqi oil revenues. Those were either absolutely spectacular lies, or misjudgments worthy of a complete loss of reputation.

And what if Bush's plan to privatize Social Security had passed? That cockamamie scheme--one of the most idiotic and transparently corrupt proposals he made--would have enriched the same craven morons on Wall Street who got us into this banking mess. And then? It would have caused tremendous suffering when the market went down 40%.

Did Bush ever use his bully pulpit to criticize the wild excesses and stupid behavior on Wall Street? Of course not. Wall Street helped finance his campaigns. And did he heed warnings three years ago from a very few politicians, including Barack Obama, that subprime lending was a problem? Of course not.

Do we hear about these atrocious failures now from these people? No. They're digging back to the Carter years to blame Jimmy for the mess by saying he's the one who wanted everybody to own a house. Carter had his role, but Bush was asleep at the wheel.

Why is there such panic now among people who said they were conservative in the past eight years, but acceded to an increase of the deficit to one trillion dollars in a time of prosperity? Where were they? What were they thinking?

Turns out, it is all personal with them. George Bush spoke their code. He is a "good man." That's code for "he shares our religious values," which also means that once he's recognized as a member of the club, he can do no wrong and we should support whatever he wants to do, however lunatic it may be.

(Unless he were to have an affair. That would end it, of course. But a sex scandal is what it would take to disillusion the followers of a Dear Leader. Incompetence, lying, corruption...that simply is forgiven as what Big Daddy has to do to take care of business for us poor ignorant followers.)

Meanwhile, Obama's attempts to reach out to the Republicans have been rebuffed completely by a party which isn't interested in spending, however much it might now finally be needed, unless they can take full credit for the spoils.

I am agnostic on the stimulus package. But I hold the new converts to fiscal restraint in contempt. They failed their country in the past eight years by abandoning their principles in several huge, costly ways.

The Democrats failed too, by the way, who 1) ran awful candidates for president and 2) didn't oppose the unwise spending.

Despite my misgivings on the big new spending package, it is good to see a president digging into the detail. He is sincere. And I hope it works as intended. (As does anybody who loves their country.)