On US Politics and Money

Let me start by saying, to anyone who happens up this entry without reading previous blog posts of mine, that I am a big fan of the new President of the United States. I think much of what he has done has been both pragmatic and sensible. But that is not what I want to comment on, rather its the other guys.

Look we all know why there has been an economic crisis, ultimately it boils down, as all great market implosions do, to greed. This greed much like the S&L swindle before it will end up costing the taxpayers of almost every country huge sums of money. In the United States toxic assets need to be bought up, in Canada a budget deficit while the government tries to get the economy rolling again. This greed was enabled, principally, by Republicans, elected to Washington throughout the 90s and early part of this decade who cut regulations and taxes, though hardly touched spending. Tearing down the wall the separated classic commercial banks from investment banks by such economic luminaries as Phil "We have sort of become a nation of whiners." Gramm (Republican - Texas), Jim Leach (Republican - Iowa) and Thomas J. Bliley Jr. (Republican - Virginia), was as much the cause of this economic blight as the so called "liars loan".

Now I want to point out a conundrum of the fanatical right here. Around the same time, I don't recall the exact date now, that Mr. Obama became President Obama the big fat idiot, Rush Limbaugh, said of America's new president, "I hope he fails". As if the success or failure of the President would have little to no impact on the life of the Oxycontin syndicated radio host. Meanwhile, the solution advanced by those who object to the new administration's economic recovery program? More deregulation and tax cuts, because magically when you cut taxes people who have no income are going to... GO SHOPPING!! Sorry but if you don't have a job, you don't spend money, seems obvious, unless of course you live in Republican Land.

Republican Land is a strange place where "mission accomplished" means mission hardly started, and rich is synonymous with decent, family values with homophobia and rights of the individual with invasion of privacy. Entry to Republican Land requires millions of dollars in personal wealth and a distaste for the less fortunate among us. Religious zanies are nice window art but do not belong anywhere near the real seat of power.

I have a job, so far, and to my way of thinking that justifies hiking my taxes. Then take that extra money and go fix a road, heck, build a subway. Give a few other people jobs. What a great idea? Maybe with all the new infrastructure that governments build now it will help improve productivity when the economy pulls out of the slump so even more people can work and pay taxes. What a great idea! (Too bad I didn't think of it first.)

The hypocrisy of the lunatic right in the United States is disgusting. Yes I don't live there, or am a citizen of the US, but I have a lot of respect for the American system, a number of great minds worked on the design of the US constitution, their system is truly a marvel. Yet to watch these guys prance about lying through their teeth, and worse yet, they know its a lie, and they do it anyway!

Obviously I hope that President Obama is successful, even if I liked McCain more I would hope that President Obama is successful, I want the economy to recover. But for the time being I am glad I live in a nation with almost punishing regulations for bankers, those punishing regulations have saved our economy.