Wednesday, March 17, 2010

American Thinker: The Keynesian Fraud

Morgenthau's statement is the equivalent of Ben Bernanke and Tim Geithner stating that "everything we have done has done no good." When the architect and manager of the program admits it failed, on what basis can honest historians claim that it was successful?

If only current political appointees could be as honest as Morgenthau. But the Keynesian myth is too important and must survive at all costs. It is a source of government power and an inspiration for more government spending. It is a source of many economists' income and prestige. Keynesian economics is the bedrock supporting the entire myth of expansive government. If it is debunked, then so is the twentieth-century conception of government.

We have tried spending money. We are spending more than we have ever spent before and it does not work. And I have just one interest, and if I am wrong ... somebody else can have my job. I want to see this country prosperous. I want to see people get a job. I want to see people get enough to eat. We have never made good on our promises ... I say after eight years of this Administration we have just as much unemployment as when we started ... And an enormous debt to boot!
- Henry Morgenthau, Jr., Treasury Secretary, May 1939

American Thinker: The Keynesian Fraud

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

‘You Cut Spending’ - Reason Magazine

Check out this interview with former governor of New Mexico, Gary Johnson, who pitches the limited government message.  But can he walk the talk?
In 2010 Johnson is hoping to gain notoriety for a different, though related, reason. At a time of deep and convulsive popular discontent with the economy and the politicians attempting to manage it, Johnson has launched a profile-raising 501(c)4 nonprofit organization called the Our America Initiative, pushing limited-government solutions to economic, environmental, social, and international issues. If in the process he happens to tap into the growing Tea Party sentiment and palpable Republican hunger for new leadership, well, Johnson won’t complain. As Politico reported in December 2009, the former governor “is doing little to knock down the idea that he may be looking toward a 2012 presidential run.” While ending the drug war remains a central concern (Johnson was a featured speaker at the Marijuana Policy Project’s annual dinner in January), the tanned triathlete is hoping to deliver the kind of broad-based critique of big government that proved such an unlikely success in 2008 for the less telegenic Ron Paul.
‘You Cut Spending’ - Reason Magazine

The American Spectator : Are the Republicans Up to It?

If the Republicans gain ground in the next election, are they up to the task of reforming entitlements in the face of massive baby-boomer retirements?


The American Spectator : Are the Republicans Up to It?

Cahill rips governor on health care plans - BostonHerald.com


Cahill alleged the governor has “spent like we’re in a booming economy at a time when we’re experiencing the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.”

“If President Obama and the Democrats repeat the mistakes of the health insurance mandate on a national level, they will bankrupt this country within four years,” Cahill said. “It is time for the President and the Democratic leadership to go back to the drawing board and come up with a new plan that does not threaten to wipe out the American economy.”
Cahill's remarks illustrate perfectly how not to attack socialized medicine. You don't concede the moral argument to the socialists and pitch the extreme cost. If everyone has a "moral right" to health care, as Cahill argues, cost is simply not a relevant consideration. If Republicans make the same mistake, our freedom shall indeed be lost.

Cahill rips governor on health care plans - BostonHerald.com