So when the partisan finger pointing broke out about whose fault it was that the bailout bill failed a Republican Congressman took the floor and actually stated that 12 Republican votes which were poised to be cast in favor of bill flipped against it in a direct reaction to Nancy Pelosi’s little speech that scolded the Republican policies which contributed to this mess.
Wow. Every breathing American politician has been climbing over each other to be heard declaring what a uniquely critical situation this is. But when it came down to the moment of doing something about it, the Republicans pulled out because Nancy hurt their feelings?
What happened to the tough cowboys with the battle cry: “Country First!” And again, it was not a Democrat telling us this. It was a Republican Congressman delivering the news — that at the zero hour, they scrap the only solution on the table because Nancy was mean to them.
Wow.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
$700 billion bailout
The quintessential flagship example of how truly reckless "Fiscal Conservatives" are.
Logic has a sort of polar magnetism. Eventually, whether you choose to run from it, charge at it, or plot a thoughtful course toward it, what is logical must be faced. You can act responsibly, taking control of carefully paced steps toward it – or you can ignore the sickness until it has done irreparable damage to vital organs. As this is the case with many things in all areas of our lives it is also the case with the fiscal policies of large governments.
There have always been realistic members of our government whom have been in favor of the clearly logical objective of properly tempering our free markets with adequate oversight and regulation. This is really a no-brainer. As with most things, much of what makes capitalism great is also what makes it dangerous. Specifically – the fact that the singular fundamental driving element of the free market is profit. Obviously, what is profitable is good for business. Unfortunately, it seems to be much less obvious to far too many people that what is profitable for the few can be harmful and at times disastrous for the many.
So here we are blindly leaping off the cliff of inevitability with an EMERGENCY government bailout of financial institutions – which probably would not have been needed if it were not for years of Republican resistance to the logical course of carefully planned, deliberate acts of regulation, which has for so long been called for by so many Democrats.
The next time you hear a Republican trying manipulate and mislead you with scary words like Socialism and Communism – remember that this is the text book Republican scare tactic that sold too many of us on all of the reckless deregulation that got us into this mess.
So here’s the reality:
Regulating the free market is not “anti-capitalism” or whatever other anti-American label you want to slap on it. It is simply an obvious measure of common sense that the right-wing McCarthyistic scare machine has steered this country so far away from – that the result has become yet another giant George W Bush leap toward making our government even more like the government of communist China. By successfully accusing the LOGICAL REALISTS of being Socialistic or otherwise "un-American", the Republicans have actually convinced us to run so far and fast in blind fear of the Pacific Ocean that we have drowned in the Atlantic.
Logic has a sort of polar magnetism. Eventually, whether you choose to run from it, charge at it, or plot a thoughtful course toward it, what is logical must be faced. You can act responsibly, taking control of carefully paced steps toward it – or you can ignore the sickness until it has done irreparable damage to vital organs. As this is the case with many things in all areas of our lives it is also the case with the fiscal policies of large governments.
There have always been realistic members of our government whom have been in favor of the clearly logical objective of properly tempering our free markets with adequate oversight and regulation. This is really a no-brainer. As with most things, much of what makes capitalism great is also what makes it dangerous. Specifically – the fact that the singular fundamental driving element of the free market is profit. Obviously, what is profitable is good for business. Unfortunately, it seems to be much less obvious to far too many people that what is profitable for the few can be harmful and at times disastrous for the many.
So here we are blindly leaping off the cliff of inevitability with an EMERGENCY government bailout of financial institutions – which probably would not have been needed if it were not for years of Republican resistance to the logical course of carefully planned, deliberate acts of regulation, which has for so long been called for by so many Democrats.
The next time you hear a Republican trying manipulate and mislead you with scary words like Socialism and Communism – remember that this is the text book Republican scare tactic that sold too many of us on all of the reckless deregulation that got us into this mess.
So here’s the reality:
Regulating the free market is not “anti-capitalism” or whatever other anti-American label you want to slap on it. It is simply an obvious measure of common sense that the right-wing McCarthyistic scare machine has steered this country so far away from – that the result has become yet another giant George W Bush leap toward making our government even more like the government of communist China. By successfully accusing the LOGICAL REALISTS of being Socialistic or otherwise "un-American", the Republicans have actually convinced us to run so far and fast in blind fear of the Pacific Ocean that we have drowned in the Atlantic.
Saturday, September 6, 2008
The Conventions
Political Conventions give us quite enough blah blah blah, so I’ll nut shell this comment.
Basically it brings me back to that Eleanor Roosevelt quote:
"Great minds discuss ideas; Average minds discuss events; Small minds discuss people."
After the Democrats spent the majority of their convention on a positive message, discussing ideas about what can be done for this country, the Republicans spent the majority of their convention on a bitterly negative message discussing people (or to phase it more accurately, distorting people).
So if anything was made clear to me by the conventions it was where each party stands in Eleanor’s observation of Great minds, Average minds and Small minds.
Basically it brings me back to that Eleanor Roosevelt quote:
"Great minds discuss ideas; Average minds discuss events; Small minds discuss people."
After the Democrats spent the majority of their convention on a positive message, discussing ideas about what can be done for this country, the Republicans spent the majority of their convention on a bitterly negative message discussing people (or to phase it more accurately, distorting people).
So if anything was made clear to me by the conventions it was where each party stands in Eleanor’s observation of Great minds, Average minds and Small minds.
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