Forget the Oath, Obama Needs an Economic Do-Over

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I'm dying to hear your exposition on deregulation. Perhaps you could fill me in on the relationship between the Community Reinvestment Act, Andrew Cuomo, and GSEs Fannie and Freddie.
Or maybe you'd like to continue frothing at the mouth about oligarchies and other such claptrap.

Dean of MN 5:38PM January 28, 2009

IF you have been following the news, the deregulation of our economy moved us in the vulnerable position we are in now, for starters. Eight years of the Bush Admin and the twelve years of the Republican congresses have turned a well regulated economy in what seems like nothing more than organized crime, corrupt oligarchies, monopolies and collusion at the highest levels. Bernie Maddoff's biggest accomplice in his ponzi scheme was the Geo Bush's SEC. The list of Bush's incompetence goes on in volumes. Please follow current events a little closer, but go finish your homework first, Dean of MN.
We can thank a well regulated capitalist economy for the fifty years of US prosperity following FDR's huge government expenditures that brought us out of the Great Depression, the original Stimulus Package, regardless if you think credit is due to WWII or the New Deal.
We have done it before, handling the largest economy in the world, and we can do it again.
But by all means, no one is holding you back from moving a Scandinavian country.

Paul of WA 1:51PM January 28, 2009

"When will we get that the US is simply TOO BIG and diverse a country for the government to be particularly efficient.
We are NEVER going to have "smart" government like the Scandinavian countries do folks....so can we please get over that fantasy already and opt for as small a government as possible?"
Very astute observation.

Dean of MN 11:17AM January 28, 2009

To those who say it's not the size of government that matters but how smart it is.....I agree in theory.
But let's be real. The U.S. Federal government has NEVER been particularly smart with money. No, we're not the worst or most inefficient government in the world...but we're clearly not anywhere near the best.
When will we get that the US is simply TOO BIG and diverse a country for the government to be particularly efficient.
We are NEVER going to have "smart" government like the Scandinavian countries do folks....so can we please get over that fantasy already and opt for as small a government as possible?

mysticaltyger of CA 5:15AM January 28, 2009

<<Wait...tax cuts for poor people? Not so fast! Thats irresponsible!>>
Poor people, by definition, pay practically nothing in taxes. They are net recipients of other peoples' tax money.
It makes sense to me that massive govenment spending programs are not that efficient. The US government is a giant clumsy elephant. It simply is NOT designed to be efficient. At the same time, tax cuts may be a temporary help, but not a real solution, either.
Bottom line is like another poster said....we want more government than we are paying for.
So, America...if you like tax cuts....ask yourself what government benefits you YOU PERSONALLY do without in order to set things right?
For those who want more government.....what percent of your income are YOU PERSONALLY willing to pay to set things right?
What reforms are WE willing to accept to Social Security and Medicare to set things right? The long term budget problem can not be solved unless Medicare and Social Security are reformed. Taxes couldn't be raised fast enough at the rate these 2 programs are going (especially Medicare).

mysticaltyger of CA 5:06AM January 28, 2009

Paul, you still haven't explained how Bush's economic policies put us in our current economic state. You don't actually have a clue, do you?

Dean of MN 12:02AM January 28, 2009

Your're right, we don't need the kind of pork, welfare, and graft that Bush and Republicans have given us, Genius. Clearly we don't need to duplicate the corrupt cronyism that is the trademark of the Bush Administration.
Good thing we voted out the republicans. Just think, McCain's economic advisor John Thain could be dishing out TARP2 banker's welfare with no strings attached. Big fat bonuses for screwing up - and with taxpayer's funds! No thanks.
There's some point when folks have to get over the denial and self deception that these Republican ideas professed for the last eight years have any worth. Are you proud, Dean of MN, of the economy Bush left us with? Maybe you like to continue to defend feudalism, too.

Paul of WA 5:49PM January 27, 2009

Bush presided over the largest growth in government ever and incurred the largest debt ever -just spending way out of control. We just can not afford Bush's welfare for bankers anymore and we can't tolerate Cheney's guaranteed overcharging from military contractors anymore.
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I thought government spending and deficits were "stimulative"? Can't you guys keep your story straight?
I guess we just need the kind of pork, welfare, and graft that Obama has proposed. Genius.

Dean of MN 4:39PM January 27, 2009

Its hard to ignore history -
If you want to screw up the economy you can count on republicans.
Of course, a Stimulus Spending package will restore the economy, but we cannot just repeat the worn out Republican ideas that have been proven wrong.
As for the Republican slogan of tax cuts as stimulus, we've been hearing that for eight years with clearly a net negative result and, well, most Americans are not in a hurry to give John Thain another tax break on his bonus from taxpayers money.
Bush presided over the largest growth in government ever and incurred the largest debt ever -just spending way out of control. We just can not afford Bush's welfare for bankers anymore and we can't tolerate Cheney's guaranteed overcharging from military contractors anymore.

Paul of WA 4:16PM January 27, 2009

Do we in the US have the lowest Tax rates in the world?
"Long term, however, low tax economies produce more wealth than high tax economies."
That statement is not supported by facts. Great Governance is the generator of long term wealth, human history bears out that fact. "It is not about big Government or small Government it is about smart Government." Thanks goodness the founding fathers gave us a genius system that have withstood our collective stupidity (electing Bush twice). It is time to step up, and live up to our founder’s example. Time to engage in our civic duty and run an effective government. Government is not by it self the solution, but it is the foundation of the solution. Why else have a Government?
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Love that quote you supply, from none other than that brilliant economist President Barack Obama. Inspiring.
History has shown beyond a shadow of a doubt that low tax economies produce more wealth than high tax economies, other factors being equal (perhaps I should have stated the obvious for you). Lower taxes increase rewards for risk taking and therefore increase the general wealth of a nation.
Defenders of leftwing economics want to place certain statements in the most idiotic terms - they want to suggest that those who want low taxes somehow advocate the absence of government. That shows a glaring lack of understanding about the foundations of free market economics and those who support same.
A sound, functioning government is VITAL to a well-functioning free market economy. People need to know that their persons and property will be protected, and government is the surest way to ensure these protections. Free market advocates LOVE government that protects them from the predations of others. They DEMAND it.
What you refer to as Great Governance is actually not such a great thing at all, but just good, old fashioned limited and focused governance that sticks to what it should be doing and eschews that which it has no business doing. It's actually a quite simple task, protecting property, ideally suited to a bureaucracy.
If that's the sort of limited governance you wish to promote, I'm all for it. But, that's not what Obamaroids are advocating, and there's the problem. Most Obamaroids want, as an example, the government to confiscate massive sums of wealth and use it to run a health care system for the entire country, as if the government has even the barest competence for doing so. We're all sure to be poorer in the end, not just because taxes are higher, but because scarce resources will be used less efficiently than if they had been deployed by private entities.
Obamaroid Great Governance is just Great (Big) Governance, run by econ profs. There's nothing new here.

Dean of MN 12:14PM January 27, 2009