Tuesday, September 30, 2008
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The "Salutary Effects" of Depression
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Posted by:
Carol Platt Liebau at
2:43 PM
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NRO's Jim Geraghty points us to a press release from the liberal Campaign for America's Future that praises the "salutary effects" of a depression:
"[D]epressions have some salutary effects - the scoundrels go belly up, the weakest get purged. And, in the wake of the disaster, people demand strict regulation of the money lenders to keep their greed in check, and government spends money on the real economy to put people back to work.” (emphasis added).
That's exactly what I've been arguing here, here and even back on Friday here. What the lefties at Campaign for America's Future understand is that free markets, capitalism and small government do not thrive in the aftermath of economic catastrophe. Anyone who doesn't believe me should check out the history of FDR's tenure in The White House, when the Great Depression offered, for better or worse, a rationale for the intrusion of the federal government into areas previously off-limits to it.
It's a judgment call about how far the market can be pushed before that catastrophe happens (it's performing ok today because of the sense on Wall Street that a deal will indeed be forthcoming). And, of course, the more conservative the legislation is, the better I will like it. But what can't be minimized or ignored is the enormous downside ramifications of a failure to act.
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Carol, did you even READ THE BILL? |
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As someone who lives in "the market" every minute of every day, you are being very disingenuous if you think you are reading "the market". "The market" is not functioning on economic data and is completely apolitical. It's just that politics has intruded as the ONLY FACTOR in the SHORT RUN so speculators are making BETS. One minute they believe that the bill will pass, the next minute they don't. If it were clear that there will be no bailout, the market would rally if THAT is the way the speculators were betting. Whatever happens over the next obnoxious version the DC commies propose, the market will at first rally then selloff as the harsh economic realities take over.
Stop arguing that the markets are "talking" to you or anybody else. Bettors at the race track are betting on outcomes to particular races, not on racing itself.
Again, READ THE BILL! Imposing Marxism on capitalism is no way to save capitalism. |
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I want to know about the fine print of this bill. As an American I refuse to be dictated to by a Goldman Sachs bigshot and a president who doesn't tell the intimate little details of why this crap happened. I hear the depression talk and I get fearful sure. But, I also want to be aware of what the fine print states. Are the practices which got us here going to be corrected - the bs loaning practices, the CRA nonsense, the "cram down" on housing values, etc. etc. Why in hell does a President of the United States and his crony Treasury Secretary blast into the news cycle and start yelling "We are going to fall into severe economic failure worldwide-UNLESS THIS piece of legislation is passed YESTERDAY" without the American public being allowed to be able to ask questions or be sceptical. Hell, I know the dems are crooks and when I saw Dodd and Frank and all the other hypocrites up there in their judgemental and pharisaical robes it made me want to puke. But to have my own party and president act in the manner they have is outrageous as well. I am 53 and have 4 kids- 2 younger and 2 older, so sure I don't want them to suffer. But if in 5 years we are back doing this nutty dance they will suffer anyway! |
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Rush Limbaugh vs. Politico?
Newt Gingrich vs. Boehner?
I wonder why conservatives here are not commenting on Gingrich's behavior.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/30/report-gingrich-st abbed-b_n_130487.html
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich was working aggressively behind the scenes to defeat the Wall Street rescue plan minutes before he himself released a public statement in support of the package, NBC's Andrea Mitchell reported on Tuesday.
Gingrich was whipping up votes for the opposition, Mitchell said, apparently without the knowledge of the current GOP leader, John Boehner, who was responsible for recruiting enough support from his caucus to help ensure the bill's passage. Ultimately, the GOP was only able to rally roughly a third of its members.
"Newt Gingrich," she said on MSNBC, "I am told reliably by leading Republicans who are close to him, he was whipping against this up until the last minute, when he issued that face-saving statement. Newt Gingrich was telling people in the strongest possible language that this was a terrible deal, not only that it was a terrible deal, it was a disaster, it was the end of democracy as we know, it was socialism -- and then at the last minute [he] comes out with a statement when the vote is already in place." |
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I'm just curious who had more weight, what had more weight, in convincing Republicans to vote against the bailout.
Nancy's speech or Newt's whipping.
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"But what can't be minimized or ignored is the enormous downside ramifications of a failure to act."
How can you write that? So,? you are saying the ONLY way to save the economy is to pass Paulson's $700B Bailout Bill using taxpayer's money? Can you even consider an alternative plan?
The House members that voted against the bill are working right now on a better bill. One the American People can support and does not force us to trade our liberty for temporary security. Repatriating capital, temporarily suspending mark to market and capital gains, raising the FDIC limit to $250,000 and stabilizing the dollar. I am sure there are more options, too.
There is a private market for mortgage back securities for $0.10 on the dollar but the banks are holding out and hoping the taxpayers will be forced to pay $0.50++.
Printing money has never worked. If it did work, Zimbabwe would be the most prosperous nation in the world and have no hyperinflation.
Those that wear blinders and can only see things one way scare me.
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Good question about Pelosi/Newt. Personally I hope it was Newt. I hate to think that the Reps in the House are really that childish. I would not put it past them, however. |
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and that's a bad thing? He turned around the gilded age spoilers and gave America back to the hard-working majority. In other words, he stuck it to the GOP, and that is what Carol is harping about this time around. The GOP is set to get "stuck" yet again for bringing about another gilded age, but this time the plan is to 'Karl Rove' the blame and turn it into a Democratic albatross. Rove was able to turn an AWOL, draft dodging daddy's boy into a "hero" and turn a true war hero into a loser, after all - can't the GOP then expect the same with the economic crisis at McCain/Bush's hand? Heh....no, not when McCain's campaign is STEEPED in economic advisors who helped bring about our economic crisis.
And having an imbecile for a running mate isn't helping McCain either. |
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