A Spectre is Haunting America

Ghosts of neoliberalism trouble Obama’s response to the recession

By David Moberg

Since 1980, the idea that government is bad has dominated American politics -- from Ronald Reagan's maxim that government is the problem, not the solution, to Bill Clinton's declaration that "the era of big government is over." But President Barack Obama's inaugural address marked the beginning [RETURN TO ARTICLE]

  • Reader Comments

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    Obama vows to change inscription on Statue of Liberty….. See it here, http://stopthepresses2.blogspot.com/search/label/Socialist

    United States Posted by stopthepresses2 on Mar 8, 2009 at 11:25 AM

    I have an immediate solution to all our economic problems.

    The Federal Debt was approaching $9 trillion at the end of 2006.

    LBJ’s War on Poverty cost $6.6 trillion over a thirty year period, and was a complete, total, absolute waste.  The poverty rate was the same in 1995 as in 1965, and the WoP was ended because of fraud, waste, and lack of positive results.  Moreover, the social costs (broken families, crime, drugs, prisons) were probably as great as the direct cost to the Treasury. 

    [DEMONICRATS complain bitterly that President Reagan increased the national debt, but the total increase in the national debt during the Reagan years was just 7% more than the War on Poverty mandate.  Without LBJ’s WoP, Reagan’s national debt increase would have been $113 billion, instead of the $1.873 trillion actual.]

    Carter passed CRA 1977 which did not do enough damage, so Clinton enhanced CRA by requiring loans to people who had no means to repay them, and approved the bundling of toxic mortgages with good mortgages, resulting in worldwide distribution of bad paper.  The last time we had a coherent statement of the cost to the DEMONICRATS’ Mortgage Follies was the Paulson bailout, when the Mortgage Fiasco cost was $700 billion.  This was a complete, total, absolute waste of American taxpayers’ money.  But the markets and the mortgages have been in free fall since that time, and there is no way to ascertain the value of anything at this point. 

    The markets are in freefall because Obama was running for president, and then got elected.  Everyone knows that Marxists are functionally inefficent and institutionally corrupt, so what sane person would leave his assets exposed to Marxist inefficiency, corruption, or confiscation?  Fewer by the day.

    The solution to our problems is for Obama to resign and for DEMONICRATS to reimburse the treasury, sort of like a tax on stupidity.  Each DEMONICRAT who voted for Obama would be taxed a pro-rata amount ($20,000, $30,000, $40,000, whatever), to pay off their share of the national debt, and useless idiots like Moberg would have a special assessment of $500,000 to cover expenses.  If Mr. Moberg is not in position to pay off his share of the national debt, he can go to re-education camp until it is paid off.  This should be no problems since Marxists are big on re-education camps.

    United States Posted by scorp on Mar 8, 2009 at 1:13 PM

    Bravo Scorp!
    Truly one of your best ever.
    I needed some cheering up and have you to thank for it.
    God Bless you. And the United States.

    Canada Posted by Jiminy Cricket on Mar 10, 2009 at 9:57 PM

    Reagan said government is the problem

    United States Posted by whattheheck on Mar 12, 2009 at 6:00 AM

    Scorp,

    Long time, but how did your enthusiasm for the economic conditions pay off last year?

    I did my best to warn you, but still not too late to go for the gold.

    United States Posted by whattheheck on Mar 12, 2009 at 6:02 AM

    WTH -

    Hello again.

    Long time, but how did your enthusiasm for the economic conditions pay off last year?  I did my best to warn you, but still not too late to go for the gold.

    I’m afraid you will have to be more specific. You certainly did not warn me about Obama, it was I who warned you about Him.  My comments to you on Obama include:

    “God help us all if Obama brings his tender Socialist ministrations to the economy.”

    ObaMarxist and theDEMONICRATS’ Mortgage Follies are the only things that have happened in this economy, $50 trillion and counting. 

    I went back and reviewed every single word I wrote to you since 3 December 2007 and I do not know a thing of what you are talking.  One of your principal themes was restricting trade to preserve American jobs.  That was bad policy in the 1930s when FDR used it to prolong the Great Depression, and it is bad policy now.  Free trade contributed immeasurably to our economy in correcting the terrible effects of the Bubba Bubble and in the sterling economic performance during the middle years of the Bush Administration.  And free trade will help to get us out of the Obama Depression, after the DEMONICRATS quit creating crises in order to waste the economy for their benefit. 

    Emanuel’s statement that, “A crisis is a a terrible thing to waste”, was cynical and Rahmboy did not bother to explain the DEMONICRATS long-term efforts to damage the economy: War on Poverty - $6.6 trillion dollars wasted, extremely bad social result (broken families, crime, drugs) and Mortgage Follies - $1+ trillion wasted (collapse of mortgages, banks, and financial institutions, followed by worldwide markets meltdown).

    The recent downturn in the economy was the direct result of the DEMONICRATS passing laws to require banks to give loans to people who could not repay their mortgages.  That was a disaster that morphed into a catastrophe as people realized that the USA was really going to elect a Marxist to the presidency, with all the inefficiency and corruption that would result. 

    On a different note, here is Obama’s recent take on the economy:

    “Obama says US economy sound, reassures investors.”

    http://apnews.myway.com/article/20090314/D96U1UF02.html

    Three weeks ago ObaMarxist was loud and clear that the economy was in crisis.  To keep the economy from going from crisis to catastrophe, ObaMarxist proposed spending every cent our children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren ever earn on government programs, extending into perpetuity.  That is to say, ObaMarxist is proposing a Marxist state for the USA.

    Now, before a single cent of that multi-trillion dollars has been spent, ObaMarxist says, “US economy sound, reassures investors”.

    Weird.

    United States Posted by scorp on Mar 15, 2009 at 10:09 AM

    Obama campaigned under the promise that he would significantly reduce our military forces in Iraq in his first year and a half in office, resulting in a savings to the taxpayer of billions of dollars each month.

    However, he also made it clear that he would support a significant increase in our forces in Afghanistan-at least an additional 30,000 troops.

    I don’t think he will be able to cut the forces in Iraq by the number that he desires during his term, and I predict that he will sign off on an even greater increase in Afghanistan over the next few years.

    Where is the savings?

    United States Posted by patrick hattman on Mar 16, 2009 at 8:31 AM

    Scorp,

    You obviously missed my views on Obama. I voted for him once Illinois

    United States Posted by whattheheck on Mar 16, 2009 at 8:38 AM

    hey, where did all of you MOUTH BREATHING, SLACK JAWED, BED WETTING ,cynical ,right wing crybabies come from? Go relinquish your wealth ( it was made possible through Marxist agendas from FDR and LBJ) now move your crying cuntservative cynical whiny Rush Limpballs fawning ass over to a good old squalid gun brandishing third world hell hole and try to survive over there. They have the best freedom money can buy

    United States Posted by bigbrass1s on Mar 21, 2009 at 11:00 PM

    scorp is one of these idiots who actually bought these anti tax payer/anti labor canards

    United States Posted by bigbrass1s on Mar 21, 2009 at 11:07 PM

    Yes, deep in his heart Obama is a politician first.  He knows that those that vote, vote their 401k

    United States Posted by Bill Leonard on Apr 17, 2009 at 10:21 PM

    Having slept on it, I would like to retract the “BHO is a crook” comment.  I’m withholding judgement.  He’s the first candidate to whom I have donated a significant amount of money.  Its hard to watch the bailouts of the wealthy, but he’s a lawyer, not an economist.  He is relying on the advice of the same people who profited from the debt-fueled bubble and all they want is to shift the blame and the burden to others.
    Given Bush’s disrespect for the law, BHO seemed like an ideal successor (editor of the Harvard law review).  Also, Bill Clinton’s outsourcing of jobs to ramp up profits on those 401k monsters and Hillary’s position on the board of Walmart leave me suspect of the Clintons.
    If they just let the ponzi bubble collapse now, people would become really worried about the future of the social security safety net.  But will those dollars be worth anything?  Even with no increase in spending, the tax base is about to be halved.  Ask Icelanders what happened when their debt-to-GDP went to 800%.

    United States Posted by Bill Leonard on Apr 18, 2009 at 7:27 AM

    Not sure that I agree with all of your points but certainly a well written article.

    United Kingdom Posted by Jason Coo on May 14, 2009 at 8:33 PM
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