Well done, Mitt. Way to continue the Republican tradition of picking goofball VP's: Spiro Agnew, Dan Quayle, Sarah Palin, and now Paul Ryan.
BTW...
If you ever hear a politician - of any party - tell you they that they're going to boost the economy AND lower the deficit, DO NOT VOTE FOR THEM. Seriously. They are lying to you. And I don't mean in the way that MOST politicians lie, while is more akin to exaggeration. This is more like making a New Year's Resolution to both LOSE Weight AND GAIN Weight at the same time.
Quick refresher on fiscal policy:
While they can do each of these in a variety of fancifully named ways, the Government can only take two actions to shrink a deficit:
1) RAISE TAXES
2) CUT SPENDING
That's IT. And BOTH, will harm the economy.
The Government can only take two actions to boost the economy:
1) CUT TAXES
2) INCREASE SPENDING
That's IT. And BOTH, will add to the deficit.
Now the difference between the Left and Right boils down to a "debate" over which has the greater effect. Which the Right has about as much of a leg to stand on as they do in the "debate" about Evolution, or the "debate" about Global Warming. But that's not even important! Because the difference between a person of average intelligence and a complete fucking moron?
Is realizing that you can't go in two directions at the same time!
AT BEST, if Keynes was WRONG, cutting both or increasing both, would just cancel each other out, right? Deficit neutral, no effect on the economy one way or the other. So here's a test: Go find the most Conservative (in case you think this is just a Liberal thing) Economics professor you can find and ask them about the "balanced budget multiplier."
S/He'll tell you it's "positive 1."
Ask them to explain that.
They'll explain that if you raise taxes and raise spending (in unison) by "X" you will raise the collective income of the Country by "X", while if you lower taxes and lower spending (in unison) by "X" you will lower the collective income of the Country by "X. Now that's from the Keynes MODEL, but it as undeniable as gravity. The fact is that austerity has precisely NO historical precedent IN ANY COUNTRY, EVER, of bringing about economic prosperity.
None. Zilch. Nada. Dick.
And either Paul Ryan and Mitt Romney KNOW this, and their telling the mother-whopper of all lies, insulting YOU in the process by assuming you have have NO FUCKING IDEA how a market economy functions. (Which in America, is a sadly SAFE bet, but it's every bit as insulting, even if you don't know it.) Or WORSE?
The don't know either.
And that, to me? Is the far more terrifying prospect. That these great buffoons are so out of touch with the needs of the country they are meant to govern, and so ignorant of the mechanisms governing the economy that they will be responsiable for, that they actually think that their bullshit ideas are going to work! And in all seriousness folks, a person who doesn't understand these basic, simple concepts? SHOULD NOT be placed in charge of the biggest economy in the history of the world.
I've always said that Conservatives only come in two flavors, EVIL and STUPID. One's LYIN' and the other's BUYIN'. By I had always assumed that it would at least be the LIARS leading the way, which is merely frustrating. Having the BUYERS lead? It downright terrifying.
So I'm going to refer back to a pearl of wisdom that Governor Romney gave us, back on the 2008 campaign trail. The issue of the day was [health care] but you could put almost anything of importance (like the economy or the budget?) into that variable, and I think both HIS point, and MINE will still stand:
"I don't want the people who managed the response to Hurricane Katrina managing [my health care]!"
~Mitt Romney, 2008
"Good point, Mitt! I don't want the Republicans managing [my health care] either!"
~Niceguy Eddie, 2008, 2012.
For the love of God, please vote for the guy who had the slightest, even the very slightest idea what's he's doing!
Given the scale of the problem, there are only three legitimate ways to deal with the deficit.
ReplyDeleteGet health care for half price by nationalizing it
Jack up taxes on the rich
Cut military
None of these things hurts the economy. Particularly in health care, think of how many business owners will suddenly have a lot more money at the cost of some paper pushers losing their jobs. In fact, you could have massive stimulus at the same time you're running a surplus.
So if a politician says they'll boost the economy and balance the budget at the same time, they're either lying or liberal.
In 1992, everybody, literally everybody, knew that it was completely impossible to balance the budget. Completely. Impossible. Then some guy dared to raise the top tax rate a few measly points.
I believe Romney's reason for choosing Ryan as his running mate is as follows:
ReplyDeleteHe believes that he only needs the Republican vote to win. By removing as many Democratic voters from the voting pool as possible (voter ID laws), he just needs to make sure his base comes out to vote. Paul Ryan ensures this.
I think that this is the same reason he's not releasing his tax returns. Whatever is in them is bad enough to turn even Republican voters away.
I know this sounds like conspiracy nonsense, but it's the only way I can explain the arrogance that his campaign has shown.
Cutting the military ('a consummation devoutly to be wished') is not as easy as it sounds. The military-industrial (now add 'intelligence') complex is now basic to our economy. Any substantial cuts will throw hundreds of thousands of newly unemployed into a virtually non-existent job market.
ReplyDelete