In a recent article in Human Events.com (h/t Glenda McGee) Pat Buchanan gives an incisive analysis of the faltering neo-conservative, "Rockefeller Republican" movement within the Republican Party. He lyrically depicts professional Republicans' attitudes toward the Tea Party movement as those of plantation owners toward their field hands. I appreciate Buchanan's Populist writing, but Populism is part of the problem, not the solution.
In particular, Buchanan does not offer a coherent model of trade. He couples his attack on the neo-conservatives with an attack on free trade, or at least what seems to be an attack on free trade. He does not articulate a rational position. If his position is protectionist, he is suicidal. If he is in favor of a laissez faire, zero tariff trade policy as preferable to the various treaties he mentions I'm all for it. Also, I wouldn't mind eliminating NAFTA which just creates a different kind of trade barrier. WTO (the later name for GATT) is another story. It has pushed the world toward lower tariffs all around. This ought to stimulate the world's economic health. Americans should be able to generate new jobs through entrepreneurship and imagination. That they haven't isn't the fault of reducing trade barriers; it is the fault of a fascist economy that inhibits creativity and entrepreneurship. If Buchanan is in favor of dismantling the blockages: the income tax, the Fed, government regulation and the like then I am with him. But I don't agree that trade is the source of our problems. Creating trade barriers is just another way to subsidize sclerotic industries and unproductive work.
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Friday, September 17, 2010
Sleeping Prophet Krauthammer Bemoans O'Donnell Win
I don't watch TV news or read newspapers so I depend on friends for interesting points. Glenda McGee mentioned that Charles Krauthammer has fumed about Christie O'Donnell's victory (O'Donnell is a Tea Party social conservative) and other Tea Party victors this week. See the video excerpt below.
In a Washington Post article Krauthammer quotes what he calls the "Buckley Rule": vote for the most conservative candidate who is electable. This year's polls though have been inaccurate. New York pollsters were predicting a one point Lazio victory the day before the election and virtually all of the GOP and Conservative Party hacks were supporting Lazio on the basis of the Krauthammer/Buckley rule, yet Paladino defeated Lazio by 65-35%. This outcome does not influence Krauthammer's analysis because he has a different, unspoken motivation (greed), as did many of Lazio's supporters.
But Krauthammer is smarter than any polling company, and he is better at predicting election outcomes than was Edgar Cayce, remembered as "the sleeping prophet." He can predict election outcomes so well that he can apply the self-destructive Buckley rule every time. It doesn't occur to Krauthammer that if conservatives are right then the big government policies will eventually implode. At that point, the conservative alternative will be preferable.
The "Buckley rule" led directly to the bailout and directly to the failure of post 1980 Republicans to limit the size of government. Government expands because both parties favor expansive policies. The Democrats do so because they don't care about the Republicans and elect candidates who believe in big government and the Republicans do so because they believe in the absurd principle that you should adopt the beliefs of your political opponents because doing so makes you more likely to win.
Krauthammer is a great adviser to people who like big government. That said, there is a reason why I don't bother reading newspapers or watching television news. Their ideas are out of date, just like the Krauthammer/Buckley rule. The policies of the big government establishment have become evidently harmful. The cat is out of the bag. People are being made poorer by those who claim to act in their interests. For instance, Krauthammer/Buckley favored George W. Bush. Would it have made any difference if Kerry had won? I doubt it. There probably would have been less expansion of government under Kerry. I say that as someone who voted for Bush and started to feel like a fool soon thereafter.
I very much doubt that Krauthammer and his allies have ever supported any candidate who has not supported the bailout or inflation. They are very much part of the same establishment that the Democrats are. They have no intention of stopping Obama in principle, just in practice. Krauthammer dislikes Obama because he would like his cronies to be doing the same things that Obama is doing except that his cronies be the ones doing them. Was Dick Cheney really that much better than Rahm Emanuel? Why would anyone vote for a fat fascist rather than a thin one? Why would I care if the candidates whom Krauthammer supports are elected over the candidates whom the Democrats offer? They are equally garbage.
In a Washington Post article Krauthammer quotes what he calls the "Buckley Rule": vote for the most conservative candidate who is electable. This year's polls though have been inaccurate. New York pollsters were predicting a one point Lazio victory the day before the election and virtually all of the GOP and Conservative Party hacks were supporting Lazio on the basis of the Krauthammer/Buckley rule, yet Paladino defeated Lazio by 65-35%. This outcome does not influence Krauthammer's analysis because he has a different, unspoken motivation (greed), as did many of Lazio's supporters.
But Krauthammer is smarter than any polling company, and he is better at predicting election outcomes than was Edgar Cayce, remembered as "the sleeping prophet." He can predict election outcomes so well that he can apply the self-destructive Buckley rule every time. It doesn't occur to Krauthammer that if conservatives are right then the big government policies will eventually implode. At that point, the conservative alternative will be preferable.
The "Buckley rule" led directly to the bailout and directly to the failure of post 1980 Republicans to limit the size of government. Government expands because both parties favor expansive policies. The Democrats do so because they don't care about the Republicans and elect candidates who believe in big government and the Republicans do so because they believe in the absurd principle that you should adopt the beliefs of your political opponents because doing so makes you more likely to win.
Krauthammer is a great adviser to people who like big government. That said, there is a reason why I don't bother reading newspapers or watching television news. Their ideas are out of date, just like the Krauthammer/Buckley rule. The policies of the big government establishment have become evidently harmful. The cat is out of the bag. People are being made poorer by those who claim to act in their interests. For instance, Krauthammer/Buckley favored George W. Bush. Would it have made any difference if Kerry had won? I doubt it. There probably would have been less expansion of government under Kerry. I say that as someone who voted for Bush and started to feel like a fool soon thereafter.
I very much doubt that Krauthammer and his allies have ever supported any candidate who has not supported the bailout or inflation. They are very much part of the same establishment that the Democrats are. They have no intention of stopping Obama in principle, just in practice. Krauthammer dislikes Obama because he would like his cronies to be doing the same things that Obama is doing except that his cronies be the ones doing them. Was Dick Cheney really that much better than Rahm Emanuel? Why would anyone vote for a fat fascist rather than a thin one? Why would I care if the candidates whom Krauthammer supports are elected over the candidates whom the Democrats offer? They are equally garbage.
Chris Christie on NJ Teacher Unions' Greed: "This is the crap I have to hear."
The New Jersey teachers union has said that the requirement that they pay 1.5 percent of their pay toward health benefits is the biggest assault on education in New Jersey's history. Christie responds with a Tea Party cheer. H/t AAA.
In this video Christie says that the New Jersey pension plan is underfunded by $46 billion. He notes that if the state starts making its full actuarial payment to the plan the underfunding will grow to $85 billion. "We can't afford to continue down that path...The system is broke..."
In this video Christie says that the New Jersey pension plan is underfunded by $46 billion. He notes that if the state starts making its full actuarial payment to the plan the underfunding will grow to $85 billion. "We can't afford to continue down that path...The system is broke..."
It's Official: Yess Now Heads Ulster County GOP
Robin Yess just forwarded the first news report of her assumption of the chair of the Ulster GOP. Actually, you heard it here first on September 6. I was unable to attend last night's meeting for health reasons, but I assume it went smoothly because I told Robin I would come if she needed an extra body. Congratulations to Robin, who will be an effective and successful chair!
The Mid Hudson News writes:
PORT EWEN – The Ulster County Republican Committee has chosen First Vice Chairwoman Robin Yess as the new leader of the party. Yess succeeds Mario Catalano, who chose not to seek re-election as chairman.
Yess believes this could be the year for Republican candidates in November, given the discontent by many with the way Democrats have been running the state and federal governments.
“The pendulum is swinging in the other direction now as we know it does in politics, so I think our candidates have a really good chance this November,” she said.
Yess said the Republican committee will further the message of the Grand Old Party and work to get their candidates elected this fall.
The Mid Hudson News writes:
PORT EWEN – The Ulster County Republican Committee has chosen First Vice Chairwoman Robin Yess as the new leader of the party. Yess succeeds Mario Catalano, who chose not to seek re-election as chairman.
Yess believes this could be the year for Republican candidates in November, given the discontent by many with the way Democrats have been running the state and federal governments.
“The pendulum is swinging in the other direction now as we know it does in politics, so I think our candidates have a really good chance this November,” she said.
Yess said the Republican committee will further the message of the Grand Old Party and work to get their candidates elected this fall.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
