How the Republicon Party destroyed America's Economy - NYT

[SpiralHawk]

Opinion piece in Sunday's NYT "Four Deformations of the Apolalypse," by David Stockman

Thanks a pantload, you so-called 'conservative' republicons. You have trashed America's economy for years to come...

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/01/opinion/01stockman.html?th&emc=th

"IF there were such a thing as Chapter 11 for politicians, the Republican push to extend the unaffordable Bush tax cuts would amount to a bankruptcy filing...

"...More fundamentally, Mr. Mitch McConnell’s stand puts the lie to the Republican pretense that its new monetarist and supply-side doctrines are rooted in its traditional financial philosophy...the new catechism, as practiced by Republican policymakers for decades now, has amounted to little more than money printing and deficit finance..."

[SpiralHawk]

1. "Smirk." - xCommander AWOL (R)

[elleng]

2. About the author David Stockman!

Stockman emerged as one of the most powerful and controversial OMB directors ever during a tenure that lasted until his resignation in August 1985. Committed to the doctrine of supply-side economics, Stockman took the lead in directing passage of the "Reagan Budget" (the Gramm-Latta Budget), which Stockman hoped to be a serious curtailment of the "welfare state", gaining a reputation as a tough negotiator with House Speaker Tip O'Neill's Democratic-controlled House of Representatives and Majority Leader Howard Baker's Republican-controlled Senate. During this period, although only in his early 30s, Stockman played a central and highly visible role as the ultimate "budget guru" in the fierce debate and contentious political wrangling over the future direction of the role of the federal government in American society.

Stockman's power within the Reagan Administration waned after the Atlantic Monthly magazine published the famous 18,246 word article, "The Education of David Stockman",<1> in its December 1981 issue, based on lengthy interviews Stockman gave to reporter William Greider. It led to Stockman being "taken to the woodshed by Reagan" as the White House's public relations team attempted to limit the article's damage to Reagan's perceived fiscal-leadership skills. Stockman was quoted as referring to the Reagan Revolution's legacy tax act as: "I mean, Kemp-Roth was always a Trojan horse to bring down the top rate.... It's kind of hard to sell 'trickle down.' So the supply-side formula was the only way to get a tax policy that was really 'trickle down.' Supply-side is 'trickle-down' theory." Of the budget process in his first year on the job, Mr. Stockman is quoted as saying: "None of us really understands what's going on with all these numbers," which was used as the subtitle of the article.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Stockman

[SpiralHawk]

3. All of the Republicons and their 'economics' should be taken to the woodshed

for what they have done, and are doing, with their strategery of so-called 'conservative' policies. Bwaaa ha ha ha ha. Talk about a perversion of the English language. Republicons pretending they are 'conservative.' Such unmitigated horseshit.

[mikekohr]

32. 9 of the last 10 recessions have occurred under Republican leadership

A HISTORY OF RECESSION IN THE UNITED STATES 1950 TO 2008
Written by: mike kohr 2/12/2008

Criminologists look for patterns to solve and prevent crimes. And in the comparison of the economic records of Democrat and Republican administrations there is a glaring pattern all but ignored by the corporate media. Nine of the last ten recessions have occurred under the direction of Republican economic policy. And proving that history does repeat itself, examine the three greatest slowdowns in US economic history, 1929*, 1982, 2007, all three were attributed to poor economic and tight credit policy, all three featured deregulation and lack of oversight of the financial markets, and all three were presided over by a Republican President.

Recession of 2007-present George W. Bush(R) Greatest downturn since 1929, blamed on lack of regulation of financial markets and collapse of credit markets

Recession of 2001 George W. Bush(R) Began in April of 2001, marked the beginning of greatest deficit spending in all of recorded human history

Recession of 1990-1991 George H.W. Bush(R) Deregulation of Savings and Loan industry led to a collapse and panic, which led to election of Bill Clinton, who produced the greatest increase in jobs and wealth in all of recorded human history

Recession of 1981-1982 Ronald Reagan(R) At the time, the most severe contraction of economy since the Great Depression, massive deficit spending/deregulation of markets, and tight fiscal policy in an effort to kill inflation were blamed for this downturn **

Recession of 1980 2nd & 3rd quarters Jimmy Carter (D) Shortest and least severe slow down, generally attributed to Iranian Revolution and increase in oil prices, led to the election of Ronald Reagan

Recession of 1973-1975 Richard M Nixon(R) OPEC’s increase in oil prices and massive spending in the escalation of war in Vietnam led to stagflation, the second economic crash of Nixon’s administration

Recession of 1969-1970 Richard M. Nixon(R) Credited to Nixon’s escalation of and massive spending in Vietnam War and OPEC’s increase in price of oil

Recession of 1960 -1961 Dwight D. Eisenhower(R) Noted for high unemployment, low GDP, high inflation JFK ended the recession by stimulating the economy 10 days after taking office

Recession of 1957-1958 Dwight D. Eisenhower(R) Eisenhower achieved the dubious distinction of achieving a second economic downturn on his watch, a record later matched by Richard M. Nixon, and George W. Bush

Recession of 1953 Dwight D. Eisenhower(R) Increased outlays to National defense and restrictive credit policies blamed for this downturn.

There are few things that are certain in life but this economic record of the last 58 years provides one. When a Republican is elected to the White House, there is a 100% chance that the economy will slide into a recession and a 50% chance that two or more recessions will occur.

With an unbroken record of fubar, failure and foul up one would expect Republicans to have a (FU) after their names instead of a (R). A (no) would be more appropriate. Not a single Republican member of Congress voted for President Obama’s 2009 Economic Stimulus plan. The “Know Nothing” Republican Party has a long history of saying no. They said no to the creation of the Social Security System, and the creation of Medicare, the two most successful poverty reduction programs in US history. That’s not all they said no to.

Bill Clinton’s economic stimulus plan of 1993 produced the greatest wealth and job creation in all of recorded human history. Clinton’s economic plan reduced the National Debt by $587 billion, and balanced 5 budgets, exactly 5 times as many balanced budgets as produced by the last five Republican presidents -combined-.
Not a single Republican House member voted for it.

Here’s what they had to say about Clinton’s Stimulus plan of 1993:
From the Files by David Waldman
(Congress Matters, February 15, 2009)

Rep. Dick Armey (R-TX), CNN, 8/2/93:
“Clearly this is a job killer in the short run…The deficit will be worse,...”

Rep. Newt Gingrich (R-GA), GOP Press Conference, House TV Gallery, 8/5/93:
“I believe this will lead to a recession next year.”

Rep. Deborah Pryce (R-OH), 5/27/93:
“(This) will lead to more taxes, higher inflation, and slower economic growth.”

Rep. Jim Bunning (R-KY), 8/5/93:
"It will not create jobs."

This from the same know nothing crowd that gave us 9 of the last 10 recessions.

There has been a crime of economic ineptitude perpetrated on the American people. No one seems to see the pattern nor is anyone confronting the stumblebums responsible for it. And they are so easy to spot. They are the one’s saying no.


---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

*The Great Depression of 1929 Herbert Hoover(R) Lasted for 10 years, blamed on Hoover’s economic policy and lack of regulation of financial markets
** “The Reagan Recession” which ran from the 4th quarter of 1981 thru the 1st quarter of 1982 is often categorized as starting under Carter’s watch during the 2nd & 3rd quarters of 1980. By the end of the 3rd quarter of 1980 that brief recession had rebounded. Starting in the 4th quarter of 1980, 3 of the next 4 quarters produced increased GDP. Reagan’s tight fiscal policy and massive deficit spending contracted the economy again in late 1981, producing unemployment of 10.8% and prime interest rates that hovered between 15% and 20.5%

http://recession.org/history
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_reces ...
http://www.sjsu.edu/faculty/watkins/rec198 ...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_hist ...


mike kohr

[Jim Lane]

40. A minor correction

You write: "Not a single Republican member of Congress voted for President Obama’s 2009 Economic Stimulus plan." It's true that not a single Republican member of the House voted in favor, but three Senators voted yes: Collins, Snowe, and Specter (who was then a Republican so I guess they get to count him).

[deacon]

34. They should never ever ever be permitted to have their hands on the economy again. n/t

[ThomWV]

5. Thank you for that refreshing reminder

WVU-'82

[BrklynLiberal]

8. Thanks for that info.

:hi:

[elleng]

13. Some might consider him 'notorious,' Bklyn!

[BrklynLiberal]

14. lol elleng.

So, have you started looking for dresses for the MOTB dress yet?

[elleng]

15. Yes!

(More later!)

[elleng]

22. y h m!!!

[Jeffersons Ghost]

4. K&R

[BrklynLiberal]

6. What they have accomplished would seem to be the culmination of

what those that tried to overthrow FDR had in mind.

They wanted a corporatocracy...and they got one.
Today the way to increase the bottom line profits is to eliminate more and more employees, and to cut the salaries of those you keep.

Their mantra is "I've got mine. Screw you."

I hope that the reality of the plan is somehow revealed to those non-millionaire lemmings who follow these corporate, neo-con, fundamentalists.
Perhaps they will realize they are participating in their own destruction, and are doing so with unfettered enthusiasm.

They are participating in what has been called a "Reverse Revolution".
http://markmaynard.com/?p=7501

The best part of the article is the contribution by Thomas Frank, the author of What’s the Matter with Kansas?: How Conservatives Won the Heart of America. Here’s a highlight:

….Right-wing politics has become a vehicle for channelling this popular anger against intellectual snobs. The result is that many of America’s poorest citizens have a deep emotional attachment to a party that serves the interests of its richest.

Thomas Frank says that whatever disadvantaged Americans think they are voting for, they get something quite different:

“You vote to strike a blow against elitism and you receive a social order in which wealth is more concentrated than ever before in our life times, workers have been stripped of power, and CEOs are rewarded in a manner that is beyond imagining… It’s like a French Revolution in reverse in which the workers come pouring down the street screaming more power to the aristocracy.”

As Mr Frank sees it, authenticity has replaced economics as the driving force of modern politics. The authentic politicians are the ones who sound like they are speaking from the gut, not the cerebral cortex. Of course, they might be faking it, but it is no joke to say that in contemporary politics, if you can fake sincerity, you have got it made.

And here, according to the author of the article, is the big takeaway message from all of this… “If people vote against their own interests, it is not because they do not understand what is in their interest or have not yet had it properly explained to them. They do it because they resent having their interests decided for them by politicians who think they know best. There is nothing voters hate more than having things explained to them as though they were idiots. As the saying goes, in politics, when you are explaining, you are losing. And that makes anything as complex or as messy as healthcare reform a very hard sell.”

As one wise man once said..."Be careful what you wish for."

[Enthusiast]

10. We need guillotines parked on Wall Street. nt

[BrklynLiberal]

11. HAH! Now THERE'S an idea!!!! LOLOLOLOLOL

Even if they are not used...just as warnings......:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[Enthusiast]

7. Even a fucking Republican knows

that the Republicans fucked up. And the greedy idiot fucks want to continue with this fucking fucked up economic policy. And they will continue with it, given the first opportunity.

[BrklynLiberal]

9. but the repukes that voice that concern and/or doubt are either drummed out of the inner circle

or forced to do penance in very public ways.
The repukes take no crap from their minions.

[Enthusiast]

20. True. nt

[SpiralHawk]

16. Right on. I had dinner with a lifelong Republicon yesterday

Guy is coming up on his 80th birthday, and -- according to him -- soon facing the Grim Reaper. His one regret in life: having trusted the Republicon party, which he feels lied to him and to America about the economy, the wars, and health care.

He was totally disgustipated with how far the republicons have strayed from the 'ideals' they like to pretend they have.

[Enthusiast]

19. I'm glad one guy has seen the light.

It's a pretty rare condition in Republican circles.

[Recursion]

29. It's the same view he had when he quit the Reagan white house

Lower taxes, lower spending, reduce the defense and social services budgets.
.
It's not my choice, but it is at least a meaningful attempt to deal with our problems.

[BrklynLiberal]

12. cross pollination of thread ideas...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=8858019&mesg_id=8858019
So Long, Middle Class

[SpiralHawk]

17. Indeed. The Republicon 'elites' have suckered Americans into Prole status

And the Republicon Proles & Birfers & Teabaggers just luvs them for it -- luvs the 'elites' for totally screweing them.

Ya gotta tip your cap to the perverse power of Republicon propaganda via Fox, Limbaugh, Hannity, Beck, O'Reilly, etc. -- it has made all this insanity possible, and celebrated by the kool-aid guzzlers (R).

[BrklynLiberal]

27. Sort of mind-boggling, isn't it?

[Octafish]

18. Honesty is so refreshing.

The guy was on PBS in February, wondering out loud about the same stuff he brought up in the NYT op-ed.

Reagan's Budget Director said the economy was in no danger of collapse when Bush and Co. rammed through the bailout.

PAUL SOLMAN: So, if you had been in the administration after Lehman Brothers, you wouldn't have supported bailing out AIG?

DAVID STOCKMAN: No, absolutely not. It was the single most, you know, drastic error in policy in modern history, going back to the 1930s. This was exactly the wrong thing to do.

Stockman helped implement Reaganomics. He saw the light way back when and quit. Now he's seen how his successors have succeeded in running the United States into the ground. Then, again, that seems to have been the plan all along. History repeats, so long as the rich keep getting richer.

Most importantly: Thanks, SpiralHawk, for all you do -- including your work on behalf of the Democratic Party, Liberalism and Truth.

[SpiralHawk]

23. de nada, Octafish. Right back at you...

http://www.descubrelaalpujarra.com/Paginas/Spanish/Gracias,%20de%20nada.jpg

[Historic NY]

21. This debt explosion has resulted not from big spending by the Democrats....

wow thats something to hear.
<snip>
The second unhappy change in the American economy has been the extraordinary growth of our public debt. In 1970 it was just 40 percent of gross domestic product, or about $425 billion. When it reaches $18 trillion, it will be 40 times greater than in 1970. This debt explosion has resulted not from big spending by the Democrats, but instead the Republican Party’s embrace, about three decades ago, of the insidious doctrine that deficits don’t matter if they result from tax cuts.
<snip>

[JHB]

24. So much for "spending like drunken Democrats", eh?

One of the important points Stockman brings up is the unhealthy expansion of the financial sector.

[SpiralHawk]

25. "Spending like wide-stance, dandy diapered Republicon Renboys"

is the actual case.

[MisterP]

26. this is (of course) why progressives denounce the DLC and co.--because they enact 80% of the same

policies that sank the economy 1971-79, 1981-92, 2001-, etc., etc.

even when they make noises about repealing tax cuts over $250K, they compensate with things like Catfood Commissions and war supplementals

[old mark]

28. Rec. Thanks... nice to see that this is getting at least SOME

MSM attention.


mark

[SpiralHawk]

30. Giggadittoes

[HEyHEY]

31. well yeah, that's what happens the world over when the simplest people get angry and are in charge

Cambodia, Vietnam, China until the 90s. These backcountry simpletons and urban people with similar views are uneducated, xenophobic and proud of it. They don't understand the complications involved with running a country so they get mad, say "We could do it better!" Ride a wave of "The common man's cause" and then get into power. Once in power they realize they don't know what they're doing and start suppresing people who point it out, cause they want to stay in power rather than admit they're wrong, like most hothead, simple assholes.

If you look at Bush and Compare him to Pol Pot, the similar atributes are there. Obviously Bush was not as bad as Pol Pot (On home soil), but you have some simple dickhead, thinks he knows better, get in fucks everything up and doesn't know how to spend money properly (Like many of his hic supporters living in trailer parks poor as piss) so when people start pointing it out he starts the "with us or against us" bullshit.

Bush was the USA's despot. Hopefully it won't get worse than that.

[AlbertCat]

39. Bush was the USA's despot

Bush was a cardboard cutout. CHENEY was running everything.... and no one voted for Cheney. Hell, a majority didn't vote for Bush! When the conservative Supremes appointed Bush as president, that's when the US of A died.

[deacon]

33. The terrfying thing is they still intent on staying that course. n/t

[Bosso 63]

35. kick!

[SpiralHawk]

36. "Ouch." - So-called 'Conservative' Economic Republicons

[Evasporque]

37. Kick for Monday!!

[AlbertCat]

38. You have trashed America's economy for years to come...

Personally, I think they've trashed the very United States of America.... period. It died when the conservative Supremes appointed Bush President. That was the day America died. Everything else just follows.

[Scurrilous]

41. Kick

:kick: