George Rebane

Today’s events boggle the mind – at least the minds of some – but not enough minds to hold back what so many believe to be, perhaps, our country’s biggest mistake to date in this millennium.  Are politicians by nature ignorant or evil?  If some of them conspire to weaken the United States in order to promote a future collectivist world utopia, then most (but not all) would agree that these are evil.  If they are just misapplying historically discredited nostrums in the sincere effort to bring back prosperity, then they are merely ignorant of what has worked and what hasn’t.  But this spectrum also has a middle ground.  What if they are just lining their chances for re-election and kicking the country’s real problems down the road for their successors to suffer or solve?

Cato reran their full-page ad in this morning’s WSJ (readable version) countering President Obama’s claim that “there is no disagreement” on this government plan (Full disclosure – Jo Ann and I helped pay for this ad.  Actually, we’re proudly bragging.).  When the liberals are questioned about the efficacy of the $820+ billion stimulus bill – what makes you think it will work?  The instant response is ‘we can’t follow the failed policies of the Bush years, we must do something, and spraying money we don’t have across the countryside is the only thing we know to do’.  The failed policies of the Bush years (and before) have now been dissected twenty ways from Sunday, most recently today by John B. Taylor, Stanford professor of economics, author, and senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, in the piece ‘How Government Created the Financial Crisis’.  How the ‘failed policies’ response addresses the question of whether this stimulus plan will work is one of the many mind-boggling mysteries that are readily accepted by the sheep as gospel.  Ready, fire, aim!

Some also take comfort that, in ways unexplained, this stimulus will put us on the path to correct problems such as ‘corporate and investor greed’ and other systemic ills attributed to capitalism, which is judged to be broken by the enlightened left.  A pearl of a response to this entire issue was given by the late Milton Friedman to Phil Donahue in this short video clip (sent to me by Russ Steele of NC Media Watch).    

I believe that what we are really witnessing in this historic upcoming vote in Congress is the planned or opportunistic inauguration of the long-dreamt Progressive Perpetuity.

As always, dear Reader, your stubborn ounces do count in the greater scheme of things.  In the least, we can be true to ourselves and not remain silent.  Contact your electeds.